


The Fate of Arunien

by Deirana



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Fantasy, Love, Magic, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:07:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 62
Words: 68,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24377005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deirana/pseuds/Deirana
Summary: The land of Arunien is invaded and conquered by a terrible ruler. There is only sporadic resistance to him. What role will the two magical sisters Marie and Fleur play? Will it be possible to liberate the country?
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 3





	1. Birth and death

**This is my own story. I already have them in 2008 in Germany on FF. En. Published. My name there is Deira**

**I'm starting a new story here. It takes place in a fictional medieval world where believers don't like to see supernatural things like magic. But perhaps magic will one day be needed to save the country from a terrible conqueror....**

**Have fun reading, I hope I can post something here regularly. The first chapter begins rather sadly.**

**Feedback make me happy**

It started to rain when Martin walked up and down his house after dark and he decided to look at his two horses and his three cows in the stable. These animals were his most valuable possessions besides his own piece of land and he was very proud of them.

The horses raised their heads as their master entered the stable with a lantern in his hand while the cows looked at him indifferently. It wasn't her time to be milked, so the late visitor didn't really care.

"I'm looking for the animals for the third time now," Martin thought nervously, setting off his lantern on a stool. Then he went over to his brown mare Wenda and stroked over her neck. 

"I'm undesirable in the house," he said softly to the horse, and his thoughts wandered over to what was happening in the bedroom of his house.

His young wife, Malina, was in labour there and would soon give birth to her second child. 

Reproached, the midwife had looked at him as he left the hut and a neighbour carried his young daughter Marie out to take her overnight. 

"The children are not even a whole year apart, after the first birth the midwife had advised us not to have another child, Malina had it so hard at that time," Martin thought uncomfortably. 

But he had wanted another child, a son, and Malina had finally given in to his urge. He needed an heir for his farm and she, too, did not seriously consider her daughter as the future owner of the farm.

"My Malina is a good woman," Martin thought, hoping that the midwife would soon come to him in the stable and tell him about the birth of his son. 

"Only one boy and she never needs to have a child again," thought the father-to-be when the door to the stable was opened and Agnes, the midwife, stormed in.

Looking forward, Martin looked at the older woman. Was the child born? How did his wife fare?

"Run quickly and get a priest. He should help Malina," the midwife told him, destroying his hopes.

"Malina....?" he asked tonelessly, and Agnes looked at him angrily. "I had warned you both. And now hurry up or do you want to let your wife die without priestly help?"

Almost ugly, she added: "Your child is a daughter again by the way!"

Shortly afterwards, Martin, accompanied by Gregory, entered the bedroom of his house. 

Agnes stood beside the bed and held a screaming child in her arms while Elsa, another neighbor, tried to help the pale Malina and blew the sweat off her face with a cloth. Didn't she also look at him reproachfully?

The priest asked Martin to bring a stool to him, and finally the bereated man, wrapped in a noble robe, sat down next to the young mother and looked at her strictly. 

"You are very bad. Do you have anything else to confess? Remember that you should not go into another world with sins that weigh on your soul!"

Malina shook her head as midwife Elsa pushed the newborn into her arm. "Bring the child out and wash it. At least the poor thing is doing well. But she will need a nurse....."

Then Agnes reached for Malina's hand. "You can still prevent your death! Do it. Think of your children!"

Martin shrugged. He and also the priest, who gave the midwife a dark look, knew what Agnes was talking about. In fact, his wife would have been able to save her life, because she was, although he reluctantly admitted, in a way a witch like her mother before her. 

Before he had entered her life, she had already healed injuries to herself and others more often, or magically lit a fire. But at her wedding she had promised him never to use a spell again and the danger was no matter how great. Magic was something that instilled great discomfort and even fear in the people of the land of Arunien. 

In some areas of the country, enchanting people were persecuted and given to them, in the opinion of many fellow human beings, just punishment.

Gregory the priest had also spoken to Malina, who had always felt guilt because of her abilities.

Malina shook her head and looked at Agnes exhausted. "I'm not allowed to... it would be... not correct."

Gregor nodded eagerly. "You're right, my child. This sorcery is bad and against God's will! Luckily, your salvation is more important to you than your already transient life."

Martin almost asked his wife to break her promise at the wedding. What should become of the children if they lose their mother? He himself would never have the desired son again and Malina would be missing him. They had understood each other well and managed the farm successfully together. He was also sorry for his pale wife and would have liked to have seen her recover.

But Gregory looked at him sternly and shook his head silently as if he knew what was going on in Martin. 

Eventually Malina closed her eyes and the priest placed a hand on her forehead and muttered a short prayer. 


	2. A new family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have fun reading the game even if not too much happens in the second chapter, but you will learn a little about the political situation in the country of Arunien....

Seven years had passed since Malina's death and Martin had remained in the widower's state for a long time before he decided to marry Alina, a young widow. She brought an eight-year-old daughter, who was as old as Martin's first daughter Marie, into the marriage.

From day one, Marie closed a little aless Alessa's heart and befriended her, which her younger sister Fleur didn't like at all. 

"She's stupid and she can't conjure," Fleur lamented on the day of her father's wedding to her new stepmother.

Frightened, Marie kept her little sister's mouth. 'Don't say that. If Dad hears that we are like mom witches then he will be very sad. Maybe he's even angry with us. In addition, Father Gregory says that it is a sin to use magic and only evil people can."

Fleur lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry. I'm not going to say anything like that. But if I want that bucket to move in the back then he will. And with you it's just like that!"

"That's the way it is. But Father Gregory and Dad said that God would test us. The devil has sent us these terrible abilities and we should not use them. Then we are good people...", Marie answered thoughtfully, laughing as her new step-sister ran at her. "Alessa, come on, we're playing in the barn!"

'I don't know. I have my good dress on and I don't want to get dirty," the little Alessa marie's request repelled and Fleur giggled. 'She's so simple. But you'd rather play with her than with me!"

"Don't be so mean," Marie admonished with a strict tone that Fleur didn't appreciate at all on her older sister.

"Fleur, Marie, Alessa! We have to get on our way. We want to go to church," Martin's voice thundered across the courtyard, and the three little girls climbed onto the carriage that took them to church with Martin and his bride, Alina.

There they were already expected by Gregory the priest and some villagers. The girls hustled into a vacant place and watched the wedding ceremony, which was to make two families one.

"I don't like this stupid Alessa," thought little Fleur in a bad mood. 

As for her new stepmother, she was not unkind to her, so far she had shown herself to her and her sister from an endearing side. Would that change now? Many fairy tales in which evil stepmothers played a role came to the child's mind.

"Alina is not that bad," she thought energetically, watching her father, Marie and Alessa, warmly after the wedding ceremony. He thought only with a fleeting, indifferent look. That's always been the case since she could think. 

Agnes, the midwife, had once told her that this was because her mother had died at birth.

For a long time her father had mourned for the deceased, and even if he did not speak it openly, he seemed to blame Fleur in some way for her death. Didn't Malina die at birth?

The wedding was celebrated without too much effort because the times were bad for Martin and his relatives and therefore there was no subsequent big feast. 

A war broke out between the land of Arunien and the neighbouring kingdom of Barius. The ruler of Barius, King Leopold, had been contemplating the fertile land of his cousin Marius for some time, and in a night and fog action his troops had attacked the borders. 

The troops of King Marius still resisted fiercely, but rumours circulated that they were hopelessly inferior to The Army of King Leopold. 

"Surely the terrible Leopold also used magic, he should have magicians in his service," muttered the anxious people who had fled inland after feeling no longer safe in their villages near the border.

Fleur and Marie had caught all this rather by chance, the adults usually did not speak about such things in front of the children. 

However, Martin had not expected the curiosity and attention of his two daughters, so they knew that he feared nothing more than to go into battle, because in some villages the men were already drafted and sent to the borders.

"This is far too dangerous. I don't want to have anything to do with that. Let the soldiers of King Marius defend the land," Martin had said to one of his neighbors the night before, and he had nodded eagerly. 

"You're right. These people have been trained to protect the country. It cannot be up to us to take on their responsibilities!"

After taking off their festive gown, Marie and Fleur ran out of the house and played outdoors while Alessa preferred to socialise their mother and new stepfather. 

"I don't want to get dirty," said the girl, who was still wearing his good dress, and the mother stroked her head. 

"You are a good girl. I'm afraid your two new sisters are a little wilder than you, but that's sure to happen over time."

Then Alina's gaze darkened and she looked seriously at her new husband. "I very much hope that the magical abilities of the two will settle down over time. Only the other day I saw Fleur being too lazy to get a spoon. She just let him float in her hand. I really got to deal with the fear...."

"Good that you tell me this, I'm going to put it up for that. With this child you have nothing but trouble," Martin muttered angrily. 

He did not like the fact that his two daughters had inherited the magical abilities of his late wife and he had strictly forbidden them to use them. Marie was a good child and she adhered to the ban but little Fleur he caught again and again with forbidden things and father Gregory had already spoken to her in her conscience and threatened her with hell.

Meanwhile, Fleur was running after her sister when she stumbled across a stone and slammed her knee. Close to tears, she sat on the floor and held her leg.

The older sister looked at her with pity and looked at the bloody knee of the younger ones. 'But it doesn't look good at all. You'll certainly have to hum for a few days. Poor Fleur!"

Fleur nodded and thought for a moment. Her knee really hurt and she looked around all sides. "Don't tell Dad what I'm doing now," she asked, placing a hand on her bleeding wound. Then she focused on this and the deep scrapes on her knee began to heal.

Frightened, Marie looked at her sister. "We can't do anything like that. You can go to hell for something like that. Father Gregory said this only the other day in the Church!"

Fleur looked to the ground. "I'm sorry. But now the leg is healthy again. I can fall down again so that it bleeds again....."

Marie shook her head thoughtfully. 'I don't think it's necessary. It is enough if you promise never to do something like this again....." 


	3. Devastating defeat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ends with a defeat that will also affect the life of Marie and her sister Fleur.

Two months after the wedding of Martin and his second wife, disturbing rumors reached the ears of the villagers. It was said that The army of King Marius was hopelessly inferior to his cousin and that a great battle on the country's borders was imminent.

A few days later, when soldiers marched through the village and a few young men joined them, Martin was wary of leaving the house and his new wife supported him. "I know I'm a coward," Martin said, looking to the ground after the soldiers had left the village.

Alina put her arms around her husband. "You are not a coward. You're just.... more sensible than the others. And it doesn't matter to you alone. Whether you're there or not, the battle will take its course. I just hope the people of our king remain victorious...."

Martin nodded. "You're right. And we have to think about our family above all. To our children. Especially to our common."

He placed a hand on his wife's belly and she smiled. "You don't see it yet and we should keep it for ourselves for the time being, although Marie seemed to have noticed something. And Agnes the midwife has made a hint in her presence. Your girls really aren't stupid, Martin!"

Martin laughed. "No, they're really smart. Especially Marie. As for Fleur....."

He fell silent, Alina knew that her husband did not like to talk about his youngest daughter and that his relationship with her was not too loving. She sighed. "Martin, Fleur is a little girl, just like Marie and Alessa. She needs you. Don't you think she notices that you treat her differently than the others?"

Martin shook his head. 'I know it's wrong. But whenever I look at her, I see her mother in front of me the moment she died. At birth. If at least she had been a son...."

"Martin, would you say at the birth of a son, wouldn't the loss of your wife have been so terrible for you? Do you want to say then it would have been worth it at least somehow? I don't like it when you talk like that. Maybe your Malina has let something like it, but I'm not going to do it. I don't want to hear a single disappointed word from you if our child is a girl! Then I'll knock a nappy around your ears!" Alina told her husband.

Martin laughed at one time and hugged his wife. "I will have no reason to be disappointed! Our child will certainly be a boy. After two of her own and a stepdaughter, it will certainly be a son. And if not then we will try again until we have a son!"

"If I do," she muttered, but Martin didn't want to hear about it. 

"Hopefully, before agnes died, you didn't let Agnes explain how to prevent pregnancy! I know there are some herbs that will make this happen! But such a thing is sin. That's what Father Gregory always says!"

"He doesn't have to get the children and feed them," Alina growled anmberly, unleashing Martin's embrace. He looked after her in amazement as she left the hut. Did he annoy her?

The battle was over and the army of King Leopold had crushed the troops who wanted to protect and defend the Arunia. Many soldiers were dead or taken into captivity, and only a few troops and some exhausted men had been able to save themselves.

So did the five men who spurred their horses to run faster. "We have to reach the capital," one of them, the leader, instructed them. "We must bring the Queen and my son to safety..."

"We will make it, my king!" said one of the men. 

The refugees were King Marius and his four bodyguards. Only with a narrow need had they escaped after the defeat. Marius's cousin and foe King Leopold had already announced that he would not expect any mercy in the event of capture.

The king, a man in his late thirties, whose dark blond hair was already sporadically grayed, thought of his wife, Queen Elinora, and his three children. 

They were two daughters, seventeen-year-old Elinora and Maria, her 15-year-old sister, named after her mother. There was also Richard, the nineteen-year-old elder who was also the heir to the throne. 

King Marius had forbidden him to accompany him into battle and was now grateful for the decision he had made on the advice of his bodyguard Bran. Bran had been in his service for many years and was more loyal to him than many aristocrats whom he fed through at his farm, as Bran sometimes mockingly called it.

"Most of them will surrender to my cousin very quickly and join him," the king thought angrily. 

For this reason, too, it was important that he returned to the capital as soon as possible. To get his wife and those who were still devoted to him to safety and to advise what to do now. He was still unwilling to leave his country to his enemies....

"Marius, what about Sarina and Norian? Surely your wife and especially your son Richard won't be very pleased when they accompany us!" said Bran quietly. They spoke with each other in a familiar way, and so the bodyguard also knew of Sarina, a farmer's daughter, and their son Norian, who was as old as the king's youngest legitimate daughter. Of course, the Queen, to which he had never felt very close, had not been too happy about her husband's love. 

But hasn't that happened often with rulers? Therefore, she had always remained silent and rebuked her husband only when they were among them. Richard, in particular, was outraged. He was his mother's favorite child and had made savage threats against his father's lover and half-brother on more than one occasion. Since Marius trusted his son to make his threats come true, Sarina and her son did not be in the capital, but in a different place.

But Marius could not and did not want to take into account the sensitivities of his heir to the throne. 

"They will accompany us! I certainly won't let my sarina and son fall into my cousin's hands! Fortunately, hardly anyone knows anything about them or you don't see any danger in them...."

"No, Lovers and bastards of kings don't count too much," Bran agreed with his king, shrugging as he looked around.

"They have discovered us and are coming to us..." the bodyguard muttered, and his three subordinates drew their swords to defend the king.

"They will catch up with us, we cannot escape," shouted one of them, trying to suppress a tremor in his voice. 

King Marius also drew his sword. Did the enemy soldiers know that there were at least twenty of them? Now they saw that several enemy riders were approaching them from another direction.

"We don't surrender without a fight," Bran said grimly, and in fact he managed to push back some of the enemy riders when they reached him and his king.

"This is the King of Arunien, King Leopold will be very happy with us!" shouted one of the enemy soldiers triumphantly, shooting down an arrow with a crossbow. He hit Bran between the ribs and he fell off his horse while one of the other bodyguards and his animal fell to the ground next to him. 

"No one will protect this country and the king any more..." Bran muttered before he lost consciousness.

The sun was already sinking when Bran awoke. The arrow was still stuck in his side and with a jerk he pulled it out. He almost lost consciousness again, but he fought back. Then he saw that his king had disappeared while the three other bodyguards lay beside him.

"They're dead," Bran muttered. What had happened to his king? Was he in captivity? Then he would certainly not live long......

"Next they will take the capital. I hope that the Queen, her daughters and the heir to the throne will bring themselves to safety. I can't do anything for them anymore. I have to go to Norian and Sarina. Maybe I can help them...."

Bran rose and pressed a hand on his wound. He didn't know how far he would make it with his injury. 


	4. The Stranger in the Forest

Bran dragged himself through the woods and finally let himself slide to the ground leaning against a tree trunk. 

His wound caused him trouble and he didn't know how he had managed to survive the last two days. But he knew that he would not last long for the rigours of a walk in his current state.

"I have to go to Sarina. She has to get to safety," Bran thought, closing her eyes for a brief moment. He would only take a short break and then leave again.

"If at least I still had my horse," he thought, recalling with regret his magnificent brown stallion whom he had found dead next to his fallen people. 

"They didn't even stop in front of the animals. And what happened to the king? Is he still alive?"

Bran's thoughts wandered toward Sarina, and a smile surrounded his lips. He was faithful to his king, but it had always bothered him how he treated the beautiful woman.

'She deserved something else. She should have been queen.... or better to love another man than the king. He never really could stand by her. I could have done it...."

Memories of Sarina stole into Bran's mind and he displaced her as best he could. Now it was first necessary to get to them and bring them the bad news. There was no time for everything else.

Fleur, Marie and Alessa squatted in the forest in front of a bush of berries. It was a beautiful summer day and only rumours of the lost battle had reached the village. Rumours that had been kept away from the children. Who was it good if even the youngest were already frightened? 

Wasn't it enough for her parents to be afraid of the future and what might be ahead of them?

"I don't want to pick them, I'm just getting dirty," lamented little Alessa, and Fleur put out her stepsister's tongue as the other girl pointed disgustedatly at the berries.

"You're always so simple! You're always afraid of dirt!"

"And you are always only mean to me," alessa lamented, and now, for her part, and by her completely unfamiliar, also stretched out her tongue.

But then the two met the admonishing gaze of Marie. "Alina wants these berries! She said this morning she was so hungry for a whole bush to devour. So we're going to pick her a whole bush. Eventually she gets a baby!"

"Yes, we get a brother. Then dad has a new favorite child," Fleur said, 

Marie shook her head. "He loves us all!"

Fleur laughed mockingly. "Yes, sure. He loves us all very much!"

"That berry soiled my dress," Alessa sobbed at one point, pointing to a red spot on her sleeve. "I have to wash it right away! Over there by the creek!"

"We're coming along, not that you're falling in," Marie suggested, and three of them finally approached the small creek that was blared. 

"It's so warm today, I'd love to bathe in the creek. Shall we do this?" suggested Fleur, but Alessa shook her head in disgust. "No, definitely not. The ground is so muddy and that's dirty...."

"Now it's not like that," Marie laughed, and was about to take off a shoe when she heard a noise and saw a figure struggling to support herself on the trees.

"Who is that?" asked Alessa anxiously, clutching her eldest stepsister's arm.

"I don't know either..... he looks like a soldier. They have come through our village. You know, back then, when Dad hid in the bedroom so they don't take him!" Marie whispered unsettled.

The man reached out to the girls, then grabbed his stomach and collapsed. The three children approached unsafely. 

"What are we supposed to do now?" Fleur inquired, looking at her older sister inquiringly. She sighed in silence. She was used to the sisters turning to her in difficult situations because she was the eldest. But in this case, she knew what to do.

"You both quickly walk into the village and get dad or one of the other men. We have to help the man somehow! They should bring him to the village."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Fleur and Alessa rushed away while Marie sat down next to the injured and laboriously turned him on his back. 

He was quite tall and heavy and it was very difficult for her to move him at all. 

Marie's gaze fell on the blood-soaked shirt. "Is the poor man still alive," thought the eight-year-old, unsettled, and at one time he was very sorry for her.

"It certainly hurts a lot," Marie pondered, and for a moment she thought about doing it like her sister Fleur did a few weeks ago. 

"She has healed herself. And I could. But I can't do that. I can't help the man like that. Father will be evil and so will Father Gregory. What am I supposed to do?"

Luckily, Marie didn't have to wait too long because a short time later she saw her sisters, father and two other men from the village rushing on herself and the strangers.

Martin pushed his daughter aside while one of his companions looked at the wound more closely. 

"Poor guy, he certainly doesn't survive that," he muttered regretfully, turning to the others. "Whether he took part in the battle? We heard rumours that we lost them...."

"Battle?" asked Marie, and her father looked at her sternly. "You don't have to worry about that, kid. This is not for little girls. There was a bit of unrest in the country but I don't think we're going to be affected in our little village...."

"If you don't be mistaken, even if King Leopold's people don't come here or leave us largely alone, we'll feel it somehow!" 


	5. Magical Healing

Martin and his companions took the injured to the village's first hut. Greta, an old woman whose husband died of a fever during a harsh winter, lived there a few years ago.

"What's the point of this? I don't want to have any dead in the house," she told Martin, and he shrugged. 

'But Greta, he's not dead yet. He desperately needs help and needs to be able to rest somewhere! And your house was next!"

"Otherwise no one cares about me here. And now me and my house are good enough? I like that," Greta cursed quietly, but no one paid any attention to her anymore.

"I'm looking at the wound now. Maybe someone should get Father Gregory?" suggested Martin, and one of the men ran off to get the village priest.

"If you want to help this, you'd better pick someone who knows about injuries," Greta murmured, adding, "Otherwise I'll have another dead man lying here!"

"Unfortunately, our midwife died last winter! She was the only one who knew the art of healing here," Martin said, adding, "And her knowledge was a little scary to me at times!"

"Uncanny? I remind you the next time your toothache plagues you," Greta said, angrily, looking more closely at the unconscious stranger. "According to his equipment, he is one of the king's soldiers. Did he take part in the battle? Or......"

"I don't think he's going to survive that," murmured one of the men, pushing Fleur, Marie and Alessa aside. "Your kids prefer to go out and play! This is not for you!"

Alessa was only too happy to respond to this request. She grabbed Marie by the hand and pulled her behind her.

'I don't want to watch it! I don't like to see when someone dies! It's definitely bad," Alessa said anxiously, and Marie put an arm around the shoulders of the younger ones. "You're right. I don't want to see anything like that. But where is Fleur?"

"Surely she doesn't hear again and has stayed inside," Alessa said anxiously. 'She's always angry with me. But I don't want her to get into trouble or see a dead man!"

"I think sometimes you don't get as much trouble as we do," Marie replied thoughtfully.

A short time later, Father Gregory pushed himself into the Gretas hut and stopped next to the unconscious man's bed.

"The poor man will not live long! We should pray for him," said the village priest, and Martin nodded. "You are right. No one can help him anymore."

Fleur had followed the conversation. She was sorry for the stranger and she didn't really understand why no one should be able to help him. They had cleared their wounds and it really didn't look good what they were seeing.

"But it should be easy," Fleur thought. 'If I put my hand on it now and focus on healing everything that was injured, maybe the man would stay alive. But when I say that now they scold me again....."

"Fleur, go home," Martin asked his daughter at that moment, and she sneaked quietly toward the door while father Gregory shook his hand. 

"It's so stuffy inside! I will pray for the poor in my church! But when I consider how many battles he may have fought, he probably won't go to heaven!"

Together with Martin and his companions, the village priest left the hut. "From home," Martin raved to his daughter as she left, and she nodded. "Immediately, Dad!"

But instead she turned to Greta, who looked after the men furiously. 

"You don't want him to die, don't you?" she asked softly, and the old woman shook her head. 

"No, I also want the guy to stay alive! I said I don't want to have any dead in my hut! They are scary to me. But my visitors seem to have forgotten that. They now go to church and pray for the poor man's soul and I can see what I'm going to do with him!"

"Maybe I can help him," Fleur suggested softly, and Greta laughed. "You want to heal him? Your mother could do something like that. She once healed my eldest son Peter's broken leg. That was before she met your father and before the king forbade magic in the land. It is not only the priests who forbade it. The king may otherwise have been a good ruler. But as far as that is concerned....."

Fleur went to the patient's bed and, after a brief hesitation, put her hand on the bloody wound. It felt weird. "If I turn my eyes, I think it's just water," she thought with a hint of fear. 

But then Fleur focused on the injury.....

On his return from church, Martin was furious to find that his youngest daughter had not yet returned home. 

"Always just trouble with this child," he murmured reluctantly, taking a seat at the table as Alina presented him with his stew.

"She will certainly come soon," she said, also holding a plate for Marie and Alessa.

"Certainly she stayed with the sick person," Marie said, and Martin shrugged. "So I made that I came out of there. I have said a few prayers in the Church. Maybe he's at least going to heaven now. But....."

The door opened and Fleur came in. But Martin didn't pay attention to her, nor was she the reason he got pale in the face at one time. The injured stranger stood, a little pale still, behind her.

"You're still alive?" asked Martin, stunned, and Alessa looked at the stranger in amazement. "But they all said you were going to die! Was Father Gregory wrong?"

"Did Fleur help you?" asked Marie, who was the only one who immediately drew the right conclusions, astonished and anxious at the same time. 'She shouldn't. Because of something like that, you get to hell! Father Gregory says it!"

"You little misfortune raven! There are always only scissors with you, you witch!" Martin yelled at his youngest daughter. "What did you do? I should give you a costume beating! I have strictly forbidden you to do this!"

He took a step towards the anxiously back-moving Fleur, but the stranger stood in Martin's way.

"Just leave the child alone," he said, his eyes flashing dangerously.

Martin kindly took a step back. "If you say it...".

"I want to hope so! This little one saved my life. And as far as magic is concerned, I want to tell you something! King Marius has declared them forbidden, as you will surely know. He was influenced on this point by the priests and unfortunately he listened to them. So it came that no magicians took part in the battle. Neither to take care of the injured nor to support our soldiers in the fight. King Leopold did not have these concerns. His wounded quickly recovered and his magicians attacked our people. Probably it even decided the battle and we lost.....", the stranger reported sadly and furiously at the same time.

"Then it was God's will," Martin muttered, but only Marie understood his words. 

He apparently did not dare to pronounce them too loudly in the presence of an armed soldier. "My father is..... not the bravest man," Marie thought sadly.

"Then you were there? And the battle was really lost?" asked Alina, worried. 

The stranger nodded. "Yes, I need to know. I was one of the king's bodyguards. At first we were able to escape but now he is in captivity. Maybe he's not alive anymore. And thanks to your daughter, I can now at least do something....."

The former bodyguard shook his head, he did not want to talk to the strangers about his further plans.

Gratefully, he turned to Fleur. "Thank you again. Perhaps one day our paths will cross again! And I wish you good luck."

The stranger left the hut and for a moment Martin and his family remained silent before turning to his youngest daughter. 

"Fleur, make you go to bed! Get out of my sight! I don't want to see you anymore!"

"Martin...", Alina disagreed, but her husband shook her head. " No, she has to learn that she has done something wrong. And surely one day King Leopold will receive his punishment for condoning and promoting magic in his kingdom!"

"But King Marius did not do it, and he is the one who lost," Said Marie, but her father looked at her admonishingly. "You don't understand that yet!"


	6. Consequences of Defeat, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter we learn the consequences of the lost battle for the land of Arunia and especially for the royal family.
> 
> Martin and his family are back in the next chapter.

Two months had passed since the battle on the borders with the land of Arunien. King Leopold and his troops had occupied the country and now reside in the capital. There Richard, the son of King Marius, and his family had surrendered to the new ruler and offered him their services.

King Leopold had mockingly looked at the Queen and her three children. "The women are to be taken to a monastery. There they will live a pious life and they will never give birth to children who are a danger to my rule!"

This order was issued immediately. Fifteen-year-old Mary wept bitter tears as she left the world behind to spend her life praying and chanting pious in the future. 

Her sister, who had considered this path before, quickly came to terms with her fate and the Queen was glad that she could remain in the company of her two youngest children.

Meanwhile, King Leopold publicly beheaded the ruler of Arunia, his cousin Marius, and turned to his heir to the throne.

"You don't seem to mind too much that your father is dead," he said dryly. Crown Prince Richard shook his head. 

"No, my king. I don't care too much. It was necessary to secure your dominion over Arunia and I would like to serve you!"

"You want to save your own neck! You are a little coward, no more and no less," King Leopold replied with a laugh.

But then his facial expression became serious. "Arunien is now part of my kingdom. But it needs to be managed. Why not through you, Richard? They are your compatriots and they still see in you the rightful heir to the throne. Surely there won't be riots and you can play King."

Richard smiled happily. "I will be a good king! And always act in your sense....."

Leopold took a step towards Richard and grabbed him roughly by the arm. "That's what I've advised you to do! Always remember, you are just a king of my graces. You will first seek my advice on all important decisions. And you're just going to have the laws I enact. You're not much more than a city keeper who happens to call himself King! And really always do your thing in my mind. Otherwise I will replace you very quickly with a trusted man!"

King Leopold let go of Richard's arm, and he bowed deeply. "Of course I will obey your orders, my king!"

Then he changed the subject. "My sisters and my mother no longer pose any danger to you. They will not give birth to potential rivals for the throne or seize power themselves. If you wish, I will send additional guards to the monastery. They will prevent them from ever being able to escape and do anything other than pray and read pious books!"

King Leopold nodded. "Yes, do that. I have already ordered something like this. But I'm glad you think about it. And who knows, maybe your sisters and mother don't spend as much time in the monastery as they fear. Especially little Mary was very unhappy about it......"

"Yes, she really was. She had fallen in love with a young count, Dario, and was probably hoping for a wedding. But....." Richard, however, began King Leopold interrupting him. "The problem has now been solved. There will never be a wedding. And in old monasteries it is sometimes very good. You can easily get sick and even die....."

Now Richard shrugged. "Nothing must happen to my mother! I understand the need for my sisters as descendants of the king to become a danger. But my mother no longer! Her husband is dead and she had only become queen by her marriage!"

King Leopold laughed. "Nothing happens to your mother. But as for your sisters, I have to say that you are touchingly concerned about the two of them. Really, everyone can only wish for such a brother!"

Prince Richard did not respond to the king's biting mockery. Actually, the whole story had gone quite well for him. He would become king. Although only a king of Leopold's graces, nevertheless a crowned head with a certain room for manoeuvre. The execution of his father had frightened him, but at least the way was clear for him. But then something else came to mind.

"There is another descendant of my father besides my sisters! His bastard Norian. He is now as old as my youngest sister. He is the son of his, his..... Concubine! Even if this term is far too friendly for this burdensome woman! Her name is Sarina!"

The king's eyes narrowed to narrow slits. "Another possible contender for the throne? Your throne? And thus a threat to the peace and security of the country? Even if it is only a bastard, history shows that even such men are able to seize power! Tell me where I can find this Norian and his mother! I will do what is necessary!"

Richard smiled contentedly. In this way he would get rid of his annoying half-brother and Sarina would also regret ever having got involved with his father. "It's a pity he can't experience it anymore! Because unlike my mother, it meant something to him! And unlike me, Norian meant something to him!"

To Richard and King Leopold's dismay, it soon became apparent that the Sarina and her son had fled days ago and that they had not been found.

With concern, Bran looked at Sarina, who was sitting tired on her horse. She wasn't a simpple woman but she wasn't used to several days of violence.

"We're going to take a break as soon as possible," Bran promised, letting his gaze glide back over the valley they had crossed the previous day. Now they were on a hill and soon they would reach the mountains. 

There they hoped to hide. "There is hardly anyone living here in the area, hopefully we will not be persecuted here," thought the king's former bodyguard.

"We can ride for a while," norian, Sarina's son, interjected. But Bran shook his head. 

"You are at least as tired as your mother! Save your strength! It doesn't help us all if we try to do more than we can!"

Norian remained silent. He had barely spoken since their hasty departure. The rumors of his father's execution, which he had heard along the way, weighed on him, and Bran, too, could not and did not want to think about it more closely.

"I was not a good bodyguard," he thought, regretting, and he did not know whether his anger should be directed at King Leopold or Crown Prince Richard.

"This cowardly guy joined his father's enemies on the first occasion and is now doing things together with them! And he obviously still enjoys it! There are already rumours of tax increases! Now additional taxes have to be paid to King Leopold and our new ruler of course does not want to do without anything! So people in the country will have to pay more in the future," Bran thought, but remained silent. 

After all, Sarina and Norian thought badly enough about Prince Richard, who, conversely, had never made a secret out of his dislike. He didn't have to pour any extra oil on the fire.

Eventually they set up their night camp and Bran took over the first night watch. He sat by the fire in silence and did not notice Sarina until she sat next to him and put a hand on his arm.

"I can take over the guard as well as you or Norian!" she said softly. Bran shook his head. "You need your sleep, Sarina. The ride was exhausting and we haven't reached our goal yet!"

"But it's just as exhausting for you and Norian," she said, sitting next to Bran. She smiled tentatively at him. "If you don't want to lie down, I'll just give you company! I can't sleep at the moment anyway. I see Marius in front of me again and again. I can't believe he's dead!"

"I don't either," Bran replied softly, staring into the flames. "I can't do anything for him anymore, only for both of you!"

"You couldn't do anything about it! I'm sure you tried to protect him. Don't blame yourself. King Leopold alone bears the blame for his death. He and his magicians!" sarina replied sadly.

"Magician! We should not think so badly about them. On the way to you, a little magic-gifted girl saved my life! And if we hadn't been so hostile to the magicians, we wouldn't have lost the battle! Then our king would still be alive!" said Bran.

Finally, Sarina nodded. "You're not entirely wrong with what you're saying. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. Or magic with magic. I don't know what's right. The priests say it would be a bad thing...."

"I think magic is like a lot of other things. It is neither good nor bad. But it depends on how it is used," Bran replied, suppressing a yawn.

"Get down, Bran! I take over the guard now," Sarina asked, but Bran shook his head. But then the tiredness overcame him and he closed his eyes.

"Just rest for a moment," he muttered, falling asleep..... 


	7. Consequences of Defeat, Part II

A few months had passed since Richard was at least officially crowned king. 

It had been announced all over the country. In the future, Richard would rule Arunia as king, but at the same time be a faithful subject of the much larger and more powerful King Leopold.

"He's just an administrator of our country and he'll see that he's knocking out as much as he can for himself," Alina said indignantly, holding her thick belly. 

Soon her baby would be born and Martin was still desperately hoping for a son.

"Alina, don't say something too loud! Now he is our ruler. And at least on one point he shares his father's opinion that magic is forbidden and he has threatened severe punishments if someone who does not comply is caught. Luckily, the girls stick to it..." said Martin, anxiously looking as if he was afraid of a spy in his own house.

"King Leopold is of course interested in such a law being enacted. Magicians could be a danger to him. Or do you think he is worried about our salvation? Unfortunately, our priests still support him and say it is the just punishment for a godless people if they are subjected.....", Alina replied with a nasty gaze as her husband again exhorted her to speak quietly.

Eventually, Alina gave in with a sigh. "On the other hand, it could have hit us much worse. At least the villages have not all been looted and his soldiers are now behaving reasonably decently! Only Salma's village and a handful of others did not have this happiness. For this, King Leopold has the army of his..... his servant Richard greatly reduced and only those who were allowed to have sworn allegiance to the new king remain...."

  
In fact, some members of the army, which had been reduced since the battle, had disappeared without a trace. 

They were said to have deserted and some were indeed affected. But many others had disappeared into the dungeons and many were no longer alive.

Alina grabbed her back and her husband looked at her anxiously. "Is our son coming? He finally wants to be born, doesn't he?"

Alina nods tormented. "Yes, although he chose a really bad time. But at least we have a midwife in the village again. Get them please!"

Martin rushed out of the hut and returned shortly afterwards with the midwife, a young woman named Salma.

"This is only my second birth," Salma said softly, and Alina groaned. "Well, then I'll tell you what you need to do...."

"Oh, I know that! But I'm still very excited. But somehow we can do it, right?" said the young midwife, and Martin quickly left the room. He didn't want to watch at birth.

'Hopefully this midwife really knows what she's doing. Not that anything is happening to my wife or son! Finally I get a little boy! A little boy who will inherit all my possessions!" thought Martin, sitting in front of his house.

His two daughters and stepdaughter sat down with him and together they were waiting for the new child.

In the evening, Martin entered the bedroom of his house and took a look at the small bundle that Alina was holding in her arms.

The midwife seemed pale but happy. "I made it! Now I have already brought two children into the world! It's a pity that my old teacher can't see it anymore!"

"She would have been proud of you," Alina said softly, brushing the child over his head. It had blond hair.

"What happened to her? I heard that there was one of the few raids by King Leopold's soldiers on your village?" asked Martin, and the young midwife looked sadly to the ground. 

"Unfortunately, this is true. Five months ago they came and burned down our village. Only me and a few other women were able to escape. It was really horrible. We then split up and luckily we needed a midwife here. So I found at least one job!"

"Poor Salma! But I think you're going to get a lot of work! Maria, Leonora and Dagomare are also expecting children," Alina tried to comfort the young woman

Martin sat next to his wife at the edge of the bed and looked at the child. "Is it a boy?" he asked a fearsome question.

Alina shook her head. "No, it's a daughter! And I will not hear a bad word! She's beautiful and I'm happy for her!"

Martin became pale and looked down disappointed. "Another daughter....."

"Yes, another daughter. And look at it from the side, among all the girls here a boy would probably feel very lonely! I would like to call her Elisa!" replied Alina, looking forward to her husband, determined to give him an answer.

"Elisa is a good name," Martin said, forcing himself to smile. Then he took the newborn on his arm and looked at it more closely. "She's really pretty!"

Alina relaxed and nodded. "Yes, it is. And now you should let the girls in! They certainly wanted to see the little one!"

Soon after, the newly baked sisters of little Elisa entered the bedroom and looked at the new sister.

"Is she cuter than me?" Alessa asked, a little anxious, and Martin brushed her hair. "She's very cute in her own way! But you're a beautiful girl!"

Alessa beamed at her stepfather as she also stroked Marie's hair. She stroked the infant over the cheek and finally asked to be allowed to take the little sister on her arm.

Carefully, Alina handed the child to her stepdaughter. "Be careful, you have to pay attention to the head!"

"May I hold her?" asked Fleur, and Martin's face darkened. "No, you don't!" he told her while Malina gave the disappointed girl a pitying look and then her husband sparkled nasty, but Martin didn't pay attention. 

He was still angry with his daughter. Why did she have to heal the stranger with magic a few months ago? For days there had been no mention of anything else in the village, and Father Gregory had appeared the day after to speak to him and especially to his daughter.

"He thinks I don't educate them hard enough! Something like this should not have happened! And now fleur could all put us all in danger! After all, magic has now been definitively banned. In the end, I am still blamed if she doesn't pay attention to a ban again!" Martin thought anxiously, taking little Elisa out of Marie's arms to reach her mother.

"My family has now grown! I want this little one to grow up in peace."

Bran and Sarina had been living in the mountains of Arunia for several months now. The area was inhospitable and lonely.

But since the defeat of King Leopold's army, the surrounding area had gradually filled with people. Many of the former soldiers who had once served King Marius had fled into the mountains, and by now two villages had been built in the middle of the mountains in a small valley.

"Actually, there are no real villages yet, there are too few women and children here. It's more of an army camp of former soldiers," Bran thought with a faint smile, pointing to a pile of wood. "You can help the men with the wood, Ulfin," he said to a young man who had arrived the day before.

Ulfin nodded as Sarina stepped by Bran's side. "Where is Norian?" the former bodyguard asked, looking around.

"He helps build wells," Sarina said, smiling. "People turn to you on a lot of questions! And rightly so. The idea of making new weapons and allowing the blacksmith to resume his work was very welcome!"

"We may need the weapons one day. We live here very secluded and King Leopold and certainly not Richard have the need to crawl around in the mountains to look for us. But maybe it will happen at some point. And maybe....." said Bran, breaking off. 

He did not want to burden Sarina with the plans and hopes he secretly cherished.

"What about the two magicians who made it here?" Sarina asked curiously. The day before, two disengaged men had arrived and they had been taken to one of the huts.

"They are better off. I was with them earlier and i tried to heal the wound on his leg. But he didn't want to. He says because of his magical abilities he would have been persecuted and he doesn't want to have anything to do with it! Luckily, his companion was persuaded to heal the injury against his will," Bran replied, distressed.

"We need to get the magicians to use their skills instead of hiding them and keep them secret from everyone! That may have been appropriate in her old life. But things are a little different here!" said Sarina. "Unfortunately, many of them still believe that they are doing something wrong."

At one time, Sarina looked at him sadly. "Marius did his part. He made a big mistake in magic...."

Bran nodded. 'He's got that. But he paid for it. Now we have to fight around with his son Richard. Do you actually know what you already call it in the country? He certainly hoped for a name like "Richard the Conqueror" or "Richard the Great". Instead, people secretly call him "Richard the Rat" or "Richard the Creeper." Of course only if his people or those of Leopold are not nearby. By the way, he has returned to his country. Arunien is now officially a part of Barius, albeit with its own king...."

"Richard the creep," Sarina sighed resignedly. "He threatened to chop me and my son to pieces or drown us in the river during Marius' lifetime. And I don't think he gave up these nice and kind plans!"

"This will not happen," Bran promised, reaching for Sarina's hand. 

But she pulled her away and shook her head sadly. "Please don't Bran. I.... was the wife of Marius. Even though we were never really married. And that with both of us was a long time ago.... bad enough that it happened.... But....."

"I understand," Bran replied softly. But even if his timid advertising was dismissed and suffocated in the bud, he would continue to protect them. 


	8. Mary`s Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter you will meet a few new people who will still play a role. Fleur and her sisters will be back in the next chapter or the next.

Norian, the king's illegitimate son, entered the small hut where the two young magicians had been housed. 

Astonished, one of them looked at him. "Norian? You're here too? Actually, I could have imagined it when I saw Bran but....."

"Yes, he helped me and my mother escape," Norian replied, sitting on a stool that was poorly decorated together.

"Our carpenter doesn't have too much experience, he was actually just an apprentice," he said apologetically, but the other young man shook his head. 

'It doesn't matter. It's not that bad here. We have a roof over our heads and there seems to be enough food. And in any case, it's better than a dungeon! Or the gallows!"

Norian did not respond. He was delighted when he learned from Bran that the two magicians were also here.

In fact, they had previously served King Marius, and he had befriended Dario, the younger of the two. Dario came from an old count family that had been in the service of the royal family for generations.

Dario and his comrade Linus had kept his magical abilities secret until now, and Norian was amazed to hear from them in this context.

"I had no idea that you...... the magic!"

"I wish it wasn't like that," Dario said dejectedly. 'But it couldn't be completely hidden. Linus," he pointed out to his comrade, "magically lit a fire a few years ago and I healed my horse's broken leg. But then came your father's ordinances..."

Dario was silent. He didn't want to talk badly about the dead King Marius, and there was another reason. 

But Norian, of course, knew what he wanted to say.

'I know it's been banned. Even if it wasn't punished in his time, as now under Richard the creep, my dear brother!" Answered Norian at least as dejected as Dario.

After a moment of silence, Dario cautiously asked, "Do you have anything of....?"

"Heard of Mary? No, unfortunately not. I only learned that they had been sent to a monastery. Together with the Queen and my other half-sister. I'm sorry," Norian replied sadly.

Even though he had not seen his half-sisters too often, mainly because of Richard, they were sorry for him.

Norian knew through Dario that he and Mary had hoped for a future together. But this would not have been possible even under her father's rule. The king would never have married his youngest daughter to a simple count, but he had been looking for possible candidates from abroad instead. In this way he might even have won allies in the fight against Leopold, but now it was too late.

Maria and Norian's eldest sister, Elinora, had stubbornly resisted marriage and had expressed an early desire to enter a monastery. Her mother had supported her in her wish, but a decision had not been made until the outbreak of the war.

And now Mary and Elinora had taken every decision....

"Bran said you and the other magicians should learn to deal with your skills," Norian said earnestly. 

"And I share his views. It was a mistake that we did not do this before. Before our country was conquered!"

The young woman sneaked through the dark corridors of the monastery. Her mother and sister might have come to terms with her fate, but she wouldn't take it.

"They are said to be hiding in the mountains," thought the young Mary, scurrying behind a pillar as she heard footsteps. 

"Have they already discovered that I want to run away? Hopefully not," she thought anxiously, taking it with relief that the steps were removed.

Unfortunately, her own brother, King Richard, had additional guards set up in front of the monastery. They would search anyone who wanted to go out.

"But her own comrades do not search her, they let her out without difficulty," Mary thought contentedly, feeling a hint of bad conscience as she thought of the soldier she had beaten down and whose equipment she had put on.

"The end justifies the means," she thought, displacing her bad conscience. The man was still breathing when she stole his clothes and would surely wake up with severe headaches sooner or later.

"It was easier than I thought," Maria muttered, stuffing her hair under her helmet. 

In doing so, she suppressed a nervous gig. "If that's what Elinora would see! She would be terrified. Her sister walks around in men's clothes and even carries a sword with her!"

With regret, she thought that this circumstance would not be of much use to her should she be discovered. She had no idea how to hold a sword or even how to use it.

"Now it's getting serious," she thought, leaving the monastery building. She briefly nodded to two soldiers who were posted at the entrance. At some distance, other men sat and let a bottle of wine go around.

"Actually, I wouldn't have come to this equipment, the soldiers have nothing to look for in the monastery. But the headmiso did not protest when the order came that we should be better guarded," Maria thought with a hint of anger.

"All right in there?" a man asked, and Mary shrugged as she realized she was meant. She nodded and coughed.

"So all right," the soldier said to his supposed comrade, slapping her firmly on the back.

"You should do something about your cold. In an hour, I take control. But let's trust, little Princess Maria is really a cute thing. With that I would like to spend some cozy hours..."

Maria made an angry remark. Now she had come so far and did not want to betray herself.

At some distance she saw the horses of the soldiers. She was a good rider and hoped that the rest of her escape would succeed. 

As leisurely as possible, she strolled towards the horses. On the way, she even bent over once and plucked around her shoe. 

"Just don't get a stir, I'm not a fleeting royal daughter who wants to leave here as soon as possible! I'm a soldier and I'm getting on a horse now. This is not uncommon. Some do this and ride to the nearest inn after the service!" she thought, resisting the urge to run on the horses as quickly as possible.

Eventually, she reached the animals and tied one of them loose. Then she got on her back and rode away slowly while one of the soldiers looked at her suspiciously. "Say, who was that?"

"That was Rolf, wasn't it? Or was it Peter? They change more often. You don't want the prisoners to make friends with one of them. And yesterday new ones arrived again...."

'I don't know! Something was unusual about the boy. I've seen him before...."

"Of course! If he does his duty here, it won't stop there," his comrade laughed, slapping him on the shoulder.

It was only when the monastery was out of sight that Mary accelerated her ride. She wasn't sure when her escape would catch the attention.

"Hopefully not until tomorrow morning," she thought, worried, and was aware that she would get behind the way she had fled.

"I have to get rid of this soldier's gear," she thought, grasping the bag on her belt. "Luckily, the guy at least had money with him. I have to buy other clothes...."

Exhausted, Mary reached a small village the next morning. She knew she wasn't allowed to stay there for long. "I'm going to go to the fabric store over there and get other clothes," she thought, and shortly afterwards entered a small shop.

A woman just folded a large bale of fabric together as the girl came in. "What can I do for you?" she asked, a little frightened.

"That's because of my equipment," Maria thought, pointing to a shirt and trousers and a cape. "I want to buy these clothes that are over there."

The woman nodded. "But you are a soldier of the king! Are you one of those who can't stand it anymore? Then just pay attention that you are not caught. They are not simple with deserters. And with girls who don't run in front of any of them!"

Mary shrugged. "Where.....?"

"Child, with your disguise you may be able to deceive a drunken soldier in complete darkness. But not me. I'm not blind. You act far too girly and the strands of hair that comes out under your helmet reaches you almost to your hip. Soldiers of the king usually do not wear their hair for that long," the woman said now amused.

Mary let herself sink onto a chair that the woman pushed towards her. "Are you betraying me now?"

The woman shook her head. "No, I'm definitely not going to tell you. And of course I sell you the clothes. But then we should cut your hair a little and you should put on some gloves. Your delicate hands are immediately noticeable. Even a peasant boy is not as petite as you! On the contrary, they have strong hands and can pack!"

Not long after, Mary sat there in her new clothes, pushing a few coins at the woman as she put the soldier's equipment in a chest. "Are you sure you don't want the sword?"

Mary shook her head. "No, I don't know what to do with it. But did that really have to be with my hair?

She grabbed her head. Her long hair had been cut off and it felt unfamiliar. But then she forced herself into a faint smile. "It really had to be...."

"Do you know where you want to go, girl?" the woman asked.

Mary shook her head even though she was aware of the goal of her escape. "I will try to bump into the other refugees. Maybe.... I also meet Dario there. I don't know what happened to him. Perhaps he also joined King Leopold. Maybe he is.... Dead. But I don't think so.'

"No, I don't know where to go yet. But I have relatives in the north," she said. If the woman was questioned, she would not be able to betray her.

She said goodbye and climbed back on the back of her horse and made her way to the distant mountains..... 


	9. Bad times for Arunien

Maria had been on the road for days now. She and her horse were exhausted but they hardly dared to take a break. The fear was too great that they would be caught and recognized despite their disguise.

"Then I end not in a monastery, but in the dungeon," she thought, depressed, and cursed in her thoughts her older brother Richard.

"He immediately sided with this newcomer Leopold. And it is said that he did not even shrug his eyelashes when father was executed!" cursed Mary and descended from the back of her horse.

Her father and brother had never been very close, and she too had resented her father's love of this sarina. But she would never have acted like her brother, she was sure.

"Over there we're going to take a little rest," Mary said to the tired animal, leading it to a tree.

She sat down and reached for a bag in which she kept a little bread and two apples. Gradually, her supplies ran out and she soon hoped to reach the mountains, which were approaching by the day.

Tired, she closed her eyes and finally dozed.

King Richard of Arunien had reacted with discomfort to the news of his sister Mary's flight.

Now we had to punish the culprits. He had cast the guard, which Mary had downtrodden, and the captain responsible, into the dungeon and sent the rest of the men to inhospitable areas of the land. Where no soldier wanted to go voluntarily, they would have to serve in the future.

"Actually, I was far too good-natured," Richard thought with a deplorable sigh, suppressing a yawn. 

His night's sleep was disturbed by a messenger of King Leopold who passed on important new instructions. It was about the penalties that magicians had to expect in the future.

"With fines or the loss of their possessions, this magic pack will not get away with it in the future," thought the king, annoyed by the audacity with which the messenger had urged to deliver his messages immediately. Wouldn't that have had time until the morning?

But the man had handed him a list and cheekily demanded that King Richard follow the instructions.

"I would love to put this guy in jail and execute him the day after tomorrow together with the two failures who let my sister escape," Richard thought in a bad mood.

Instead, he had to put the man in one of the best guest rooms and have him serve a good meal before he made his way home.

Richard tried to focus on the parchment in his hand that listed the penalties.

_"Forbidden use of healing spells is punishable by life imprisonment, only if the culprits are younger than fourteen years they are to be prosecuted at 10 years. But afterwards they were forbidden to learn a profession. A life as a beggar is good enough...."_

Richard couldn't suppress a hateful smile. "After 10 years, they should live as beggars! People don't even survive half a year in the dungeons!"

_"But those who use other spells, such as lighting objects or the like, will be punished with death and executed at the stake..._ " Richard continued, annoyed at the last paragraph.

_"These laws apply only to magicians who are not in the service of King Leopold. These selected people must be given all support....."_

"He is not interested in eradicating this sin, the magic. When they serve him they are most welcome to him! So King Leopold is really a hypocrite. I'd love to have it split in four. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity," Richard thought angrily, and set about dictating a reply to his scribe.

_"Write that I will obey his orders, of course and with great deference. I am always King Leopold's faithful servant and his friend! Soon there will be no magicians in the land,"_ ordered the king of Arunia.

After dictating his message and instructing the scribe to pass it on to the messenger, King Richard rose and yawned his hand in front of his mouth. 

"I'm going to pull back and try to calm down a little bit! And the next time I get disturbed I hope that the news is that you have found my sister. Then I have to think about how to deal with her," the king thought.

Two days later, many residents of the capital watched as two men who had failed to perform their duties were executed.

The king sat on a horse in the midst of his bodyguard, ignoring the desperate pleas of his relatives.

The inhabitants of the city saw this with discomfort. Although most were not very sorry for the convicts who were led to the gallows. Since King Marius's death, the members of the army had become too unpopular.

With sad faces and hanging heads, the condemned had passed the crowd. They seemed to have come to terms with their sad fate.

Nevertheless, unrest spread and some people grumbled louder or quieter. The king saw it with obvious anger. 

An elderly woman turned to her grandson. "So if you're smart you're going to get away from here! Otherwise, you might one day be fine. And now they have also enacted these new laws against the magicians! Times are not getting better!"

Her grandson, a young man in his early twenties, looked around uneasy. "Not so loud, grandmother! If anyone hears that! Besides, what do the magicians care about? After all, I'm not one!"

"No, you're not. And to me, they're scary, too. But here in the city and at our king is some lazy and stinks enormously! But maybe that will change at some point. His brother Norian and other refugees are said to be hiding in the mountains. You should go there!" said the old woman, shrugging as she and her grandson were grabbed from behind.

"You talk badly about the king? You will be sorry! I hope you like it in one of our prisons," said one soldier whose face drew several scars. 

According to his equipment, it was a captain. He waved to some subordinate soldiers. "Bring them away. They make rebellious speeches!"

The old woman and her grandson were taken away and the captain turned to the crowd who had watched the whole thing in horror. He pointed to the gallows where the convicts had now suffered their fate.

"Either you end up where they are hanging now. Or it will be like the old man and this guy. They won't see the sun anymore! Does anyone want to go on the back?"

The people looked to the ground and the captain, a faithful follower of the king, smiled contentedly. "I don't think there will be too many problems here." 


	10. Critical situation

Alina shook her head with a hint of despair and looked at her stepdaughter Fleur seriously. The girl wore a brown hare on her arm and pressed him.

"I know that you just wanted to help the little rabbit and therefore healed his sick paw. You just meant it well. Unfortunately, such a thing is forbidden. You're going to get a lot of trouble if you get caught doing it!" said Alina seriously.

"With Dad, I know," Fleur told me a defiant undertone in his voice. "He's always angry with me anyway, no matter what I do!"

Unfortunately, Alina could not oppose this, she had already spoken to Martin more than once about his behaviour towards his daughter. But it just didn't seem possible for him to close the little one's heart.

And she didn't make it too easy for him, too often she violated prohibitions, at least when he spoke to them.

"She listens to me most of the time. She helps me in the household and is diligent, just like the other two greats. It is a real pity that it is so bad between her and Martin! He's a good father to the others," Fleur's stepmother thought sadly.

She sat on a chair and pulled the child at her, the bunny fidgeting in her arms restlessly. "I'm really sorry that you find it so hard to comply with this ban. You want to help sick animals and people. Actually, that's a good thing. But it is forbidden and you can be punished very severely. The new king has banned such a thing," Alina said earnestly.

Reluctantly, Fleur nodded. 'I'm not doing it again. But what about Hoppel? Can I keep it?"

"I think Hoppel feels much more comfortable in the forest with the other animals, here it only ends at some point as a meal," Alina said regretfully.

Sadly, Fleur looked to the ground. "But I love Hoppel. I want to keep him!"

"Unfortunately, this is not possible, but you can remember where you let him run in the forest. Then from time to time you can see how he is doing. Maybe you'll see him again one day. Then he jumps towards you with his big family of rabbits!" Alina tried to comfort the little one.

Fleur nodded unhappily. "Then I bring Hoppel back into the forest," she said softly, leaving the house.

"Poor Fleur," Marie said. She had listened to the conversation with little Elisa on her arm.

Worried, the eldest of the girls asked, "But you don't tell Dad about Hoppel, don't you? If he learns that Fleur has helped the hare, he will surely be evil!"

'I'm not telling him anything. He has enough around his ears at the moment. The king has increased taxes and he now has to work much more than he used to. He should not get upset. And I will also have peace in the house," Alina answered with disbelief, but her bad mood was not directed at the girls or her husband, but against the king's new laws.

The peasants also noticed that a new ruler was in power. A sense of insecurity had spread among the rural population, especially the laws against magic and the higher taxes made it difficult for people to cope.

Although the magic had been frowned upon before, an old woman had been arrested in the neighbouring village when, without magic, she pulled a tooth from a man. She had subsequently used her healing powers to close the violently bleeding wound.

The man had told this around and with the old woman it had ended tragically.

All this worried Alina, even if the new laws had caused a hint of schadenfreude.

Gregory, the village priest, as the richest man in the village, had to hand over much of his money and supplies when a squad of soldiers, in search of hidden magicians, crossed the village.

In desperation over the next few days, over an extensive lunch at the tables of the villagers, the priest had complained of his difficult fate.

Alina didn't really feel sorry for him. "He is most eager to proclaim the new rules regarding magic. Luckily, he didn't tell the soldiers anything about Fleur or Marie out of anger."

The mountains rose eerily in front of Mary as she pulled her horse, which she had grabbed by the reins, behind her.

It had taken them a lot of effort to dodge a squad of soldiers. Were they looking for the refugees to hide in the mountains? Or were they looking for her?

"I'm sure my disappearance has already spread," Mary thought, continuing her journey. She knew that she was doing best to get ahead as quickly as possible.

The road had so far turned out to be very arduous and she wondered many times whether it was because she had lived a rather sheltered life. 

"If I were really a poor farmer or a soldier, I certainly wouldn't find it that hard. Hopefully they can need a pampered little princess in the mountains. I am also the sister of King Richard. That shouldn't make me too popular."

Such and similar thoughts weighed on Mary when she took a short break and pulled an apple out of a bag.

She sat on a large stone and bit into the fruit and let it slowly melt on her tongue to have a lot of it. Her supplies were gradually running out and she didn't know where she would be able to find something edible next time.

Mary closed her eyes for a moment. She longed for a soft bed and dry accommodation. But for nothing in the world she would have returned to the monastery or to her brother's court, where she was no longer wanted anyway.

She thought of Dario and wondered again what had become of him. Did he do well? Was he safe?

But then, at some distance, she heard hoof-tappers and at one point a loud scream rang out, closely followed by a sound of impact.

Maria's horse bounced up and ran away. Unsure what to do, she decided to hide. But far and wide there was no suitable hiding place to be seen and finally a male voice sounded. 

"The horse has to belong to someone! Look over there!"

Maria turned around and wanted to use the path leading towards the mountains for her escape, but steps quickly came closer and at one time she faced an armed soldier. He drew his sword and took a step toward it.

"You want to escape into the mountains, what? Cursed Bengel, but that will be nothing! We have orders to stop anyone who tries to prevent it!"

With quick steps, the man was with Maria and grabbed her roughly by the upper arm and pulled her behind her.

Mary tried to free herself from the man's grip, but one of his comrades came to his aid, Mary now realized that they were five.

"Another one of them! That's three in total now," one of the men laughed, pointing to two young men sitting on the ground guarded by the three remaining soldiers. 

A third man in plain clothes lay on the floor. Was he the one who had screamed earlier?

"So the Bengel here had at least one horse. What are we doing with them now? An example? Let's just hang them on the next tree over there!" one of the men said of his gruesome reflections.

"That's a very good idea," one of his comrades replied, pointing to the two men sitting on the ground. "Now we just have to decide with whom we start!"

"When I tell those who I am, I may get away with life, at least temporarily, until they take me to my brother. Maybe they don't believe me," Maria thought as the soldier pushed her to the ground next to the other two prisoners. 

"Well, we're best off with who we're starting with!" the man said, giving her a kick as she tried to rise.

Her eyes fell on the other two men, who, like them, looked around for an escape route. But the situation seemed almost hopeless.... 


	11. Joris the Magician

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now you get a new chapter to read. So have fun with it. In this chapter you get to know new people, one of whom will have a greater role to play.
> 
> Then you also know the most important people who will have to do something in this story.

"I think we'll start with the bangel!" the soldier laughed, grabbing Mary. "He looks so frightened, we should redeem him from his misery as soon as possible!"

"You just have a heart that's too soft," said one of his comrades, pulling out a rope. 

"I'm already preparing everything! Ask the Bengel if he still has one last wish. Maybe he wants to hug his mom again!"

"You can't do that..."" Mary stammered. 

She had to come up with something urgently, otherwise she would soon find herself hung up on a tree. Unfortunately, the man held her arm tightly and an escape seemed hopeless.

"Let the little one go," asked one of her two fellow prisoners, and was punished with a kick for his remark.

"Don't get in there! You can soon give him company," said the soldier, who was still holding Mary, mockingly."

The second prisoner gave Mary a compassionate look before a kick hit him. 

"Now we see that we are putting the matter behind us. I have no desire and no time to spend the whole day here," the captain of the group of soldiers, who had been silent until now, was heard. He stopped in front of the prisoners crouching on the ground and pointed to the younger one. "You there, what's your name?"

"What's you interested in? You want me to hang up!" said the young man with a hint of courage that surprised Mary. 

But they all had too much to lose, and he was probably acting out of desperation rather than courage.

"Stupid farmer, how do you talk to me? Do you even know who you are dealing with? I am Captain Fredric. And I want to know your name, because we were looking for a magician who fled in the company of two friends. His name is Joris.... You're certainly not, aren't you? This magician is said to have attacked a soldier. With magic!" said the hautpmann with a cynical smile, before punching the young man in the face. 

'But you're certainly not. It's better, because then you wouldn't get away with us hanging you on the next branch. We wouldn't make it that easy for you...."..."

Now the centurion pointed to Mary and gave his people a wink. "Get ahead! Hang up the guy, and then the others!"

"No," said the young man unhappily, and actually made arrangements to rise. 

The soldiers laughed. "So the guy wants to protect the little one! How funny! Why don't we make fun of it? Give the guy a sword in his hand and let him fight against one of us!"

The captain shook his head at first, but then seemed to think of something better.

"Why shouldn't you have a bit of fun," he said, pointing to a large and powerful soldier.

"You, Zandor, will fight!" he pointed out, and Zandor came closer with a grin. "Of course! I'm going to cut this guy into little stripes!"

"Yes, you will," shouted one of his comrades, slapping Zandor on the shoulder. "You are a good man! But don't let the guy get ready! Maybe we should make sure you have a better chance!"

"What does that mean? Better chances? I'll deal with it!" laughed Zandor, but cast an outraged glance at the other.

"Zandor, we only think of you! You shall not be injured in battle! Even small wounds can be fatal! Imagine he hurts you with his gun? Even a beginner can be lucky!"

"Should we chop off his hands beforehand so that he can no longer hold a sword?" said Zandor. 

"Why don't we just kill the three? I don't like such games!" one of the other men could be heard, but his comrades laughed. "Don't be such a spoiler!"

The captain pulled the prisoner to his feet. "He doesn't get a sword. Shall he fight you like this! But don't immediately cut off his arm!"

"This is unjust," Mary protested, but no one paid attention to her. 

Eventually, Zandor and the prisoner faced each other. Zandor lifted his sword. "I will make it short and painless despite everything. I don't like it when poor people suffer for a long time..... Do you really think so?"

He took out and thrust his sword into the other's upper arm. He shrugged and stared at the gaping wound with his eyes wide open.

"Now the other arm," Zandor laughed, and made another push, but at one point he screamed and dropped his sword.

Two other soldiers who stood nearby and made their jokes at the prisoner's expense also screamed and threw themselves to the ground.

"That's burning!" one of them screamed, and now Mary realized that fire bubbles were forming on Zandor's hands. 

Her gaze fell on the prisoner, who pressed his hand on the wound on his upper arm, and she became aware of what was going on here. 

"That's magic! Disappear better and leave us alone! Otherwise you will be like Zandor and the other two!" cried Mary, and the centurion, who had become pale by now, preferred to obey this invitation.

As soon as he and his people could, they, leaving Zandor and the other two behind, climbed on their horses and rode away.

Mary shrugged as the young man's gaze, from which the magic had apparently come from, fell on her. 

For a moment she felt pain on her hands, but then the other former prisoner roughly grabbed his companion by the arm "Joris! Stop it!"

Dazed, Joris nodded and held on to the other, swaying. Mary, meanwhile, had given way a bit.

"Then your name is really Joris? And they were looking for you?"

Joris nodded uncertainly as his companion ripped off a piece of fabric from the third, dead man's shirt and wrapped it around Joris' wound.

Looking at Zandor and the other two soldiers, he said, "We should disappear from here as soon as possible!"

Mary could only agree with this, and as quickly as they could, they rushed away.

Mary could only agree with this, and as quickly as they could, they rushed away.

It was only when they had gone out of sight and for a long time as quickly as possible that the injured Joris let himself fall into the grass.

"We have to move on," his companion said sadly. "Maybe the soldiers will still haunt us...."

Joris nodded, but was too exhausted to get up.

Mary sat next to him. "We could take a short break. Then we really need to move on..... why did you attack me earlier?"

She looked at her hands, fortunately there were no fire bubbles. The hands of the soldiers had looked very different.

'I didn't want that.... I can't really control that. You were suddenly there, and at first I didn't know how to stop. I'm sorry," Joris said softly.

His companion sighed. "To me this cursed magic we have nothing but trouble! Why did you even have to start with it, Joris? If you hadn't attacked these soldiers in our village, Ulfin would still be alive!"

"Soldiers attacked in the village?" asked Maria. 

She had come to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with knowing a little more about her two companions and their motives for her escape.

"It was more of an accident," Joris said unhappily. "We lived in a village not far from here. Three days ago, soldiers arrived and they began to allow themselves terrible jokes at the expense of the villagers. So they took the crutch away from an old woman and she fell. They ripped the baby out of the arm of a young woman and put the little one in a basket and hung it high up on a tree. I wanted to help the woman. I've known her for a long time, but one of the soldiers punched me in the face. And the same thing happened there as before....."

"And the soldiers who raged in the village?" asked Mary. 

She knew for herself that the people who served in her brother's army were not too friendly and simply. Their sympathy in this case was with the villagers.

"They rode it," the other man said now. Both of them were quite young, Mary protected them for a maximum of twenty years, probably younger. The dead man had been a little older.

"But then the villagers threw stones at me and told me to go. I would put the whole village in danger unnecessarily," Joris continued.

"Walter and Ulfin helped me, and they were expelled. The three of us were born and raised in this village. But suddenly they didn't want to know anything more about us!"

Mary nodded. She was aware that such events would occur even more frequently now that magic was considered a crime.

"We wanted to try to smash our way into the mountains. Some refugees are said to have been accommodated there. Among others, the half-brother of Richard the Creeper. Maybe magicians are welcome there.... "That's what Ulfin said," Joris said softly, grasping his arm.

Can't you heal that with magic? So what can most magicians do?" asked Mary.

Joris shook his head. "No. I've never consciously used magic. Earlier, this was also rather an oversight.... and actually I'm not a magician...."

"You're probably like most of the magicians in the country. They know they have magical abilities, but they suppress them and don't learn to deal with them. Actually it is a disgrace.....", Mary muttered and rose. "We should go further now. My name, by the way, is Maria. And yes, I'm not a boy!"

"I thought about it," Walter said. "You're a little too petite for that and your voice is way too bright! But be glad that the soldiers didn't notice....."

Based on his companion, Walter, Joris also rose and together they continued their arduous journey. 


	12. Happy reunion

Mary and her two companions crouched almost to the skin under a rocky outcrop.

It had begun to rain and an icy wind made life difficult for the three refugees, especially the injured Joris.

"If we don't find help soon, it can be bad," Walter muttered, trying to smile cheerfully at the injured. "This will happen again!"

"I don't think so," Joris said with a weak voice.

Mary trembled, but remained silent. She would have liked to complain loudly about the cold and even regretted in her current situation that she had left the warm monastery. 

She tried to remember all the reasons that had contributed to her escape, and she even made it with difficulty.

"I can't start whining like a little girl," she thought. "I can't start whining and saying that I want to return to a nice, warm room...."

""It would be best if we were at home now," Walter said. "It was warm and cozy there. And we had a warm bed."

A warm bed," Said Joris, smiling for a brief moment. "What would I give for it now!"

"I'd love to be warm somewhere," Mary admitted. "And I want to have something warm to eat! We no longer have any supplies!

When the rain shower subsided a little, they got up frozen and exhausted and set off again. In the meantime, Joris could only move by supporting him.

"If only he knew the magic better! Then he might heal his injury himself," Mary thought depressedly.

"I'm afraid my father made a big mistake by not promoting magicians, but by getting them to hide their abilities. If I were Queen, I would have chosen otherwise! Maybe we would have won the battle. Were nammages not in the service of King Leopold? If they had such skills as Joris and can control it properly, then it's no wonder we lost!"

Mary supplanted the bitterness that rose in her. She had loved her father, and despite his wrong decision, she did not want to think badly of him. Didn't she somehow drag his memory into the dirt? She definitely didn't want that.

"He made his mistakes. And this one mistake had a terrible consequence for all of us. Maybe Joris won't survive...."..." thought Mary.

Norian, Linus and Dario sat together at the campfire. They had been assigned to the guard that night and kept a close eye on the path leading to their slow-growing village.

"What are we supposed to call the village?" linus asked after a while, warming his hands by the fire.

'I don't really know either. Just village, I think!" replied Norian, but Dario disagreed. 

"We are creating something completely new here! Here come all those who have not endured living in the rest of the country. We really should come up with a name for ourselves. Hope village or something like that!"

Norian laughed. "That really sounds a little bit..... strange and unnecessarily romantic! Like from an old story. But this is not a story, especially not a romantic one!"

Dario became sad at one time. 'I know it's certainly not a romantic story.'

Norian looked at Dario with regret. "I'm sorry. That was a stupid remark. I also know that you miss Mary. But it probably wouldn't have gone well with you anyway!"

"No, especially because your father would have been against it. He himself had no conscience to cheat his wife with your mother for years. But he didn't want to allow his daughter to choose a man to be happy with," Dario said, and anger swung in his voice.

There was silence after this remark and Dario stared into the flame, which flickered higher at one time. The fire began to burn more strongly.

"Let that be! You shouldn't use your magic for gimmicks!" Linus rebuked the other.

He shrugged, but remained silent.

"I'm sorry for what I said earlier about Mary and you," Norian apologized, squatting next to Dario at the fire.

The flames flickered again to an ordinary extent in front of him.

"I think someone is coming!" Linus whispered at one time, reaching for his sword lying next to him.

Norian and Dario also rose as two figures approached them. It was a young man who carried another, apparently injured, over his shoulder and let him slide to the ground.

But Dario did not pay attention to all this. His gaze was on the companion of the two. A boy in shabby clothes who took a few steps towards him....

"Mary!" cried Dario, running towards the alleged boy. Now Norian also recognized his half-sister, who embraced Dario.

"There's no such thing," he muttered, as Linus rushed to the other newcomers.

Mary, meanwhile, nestled in Dario's arms. "I didn't know if I could find you here! And now you are the first one I meet! I wouldn't have believed that.'

"What about the romantic story?" asked Linus, looking at his comrade and the dead king's daughter.

"How do you get here?" asked Dario, who was as stunned as Mary. "And what happened to your hair?"

"I cut that off. So that everyone thinks of me as a boy. But with you and the two over there," she pointed to her two companions, "it didn't work!"

"So you fled the monastery?" asked Dario, nodding with a smile. With a little ridicule in her voice, she said, "I didn't want to wait until you rescueme me at some point!"

Now she pointed to one of her two companions. "Joris is not doing well. He wanted to help me when a few soldiers wanted to hang us on the next branch. He's a magician, by the way. But he has no idea how to deal with it!"

"I'm just learning that," Dario said, and Mary looked at him in amazement. "You? A magician? You never told me that!"

'I wasn't so sure of myself. And I didn't tell anyone. You know how you thought about it and still think about it!" replied Dario.

Now Norian also hugged his half-sister. "It's good that you were able to come here. You will take care of your friend Joris, we have some healers here. And even with magic we can now heal simple injuries. We're learning!"

"Yes, it is also desperately needed," Sighed Mary, retreating a piece from her brother. 

A really cordial or even fraternal relationship had not developed between them, even if they were not at all opposed.

It was also too gnawing at Mary that her father had preferred Norian's mother to the Queen, her mother, for years.


	13. Escape of two sisters

**5 years later**

More than five years had passed since King Marius' army was so crushed by Leopold's troops.

In these five years, a lot had changed in the country. People lived more anxiously and became more silent. It often happens that conversations fall silent when a stranger or someone with whom one did not understand the best was added.

King Richard's soldiers, meanwhile, searched the country for suspects and many magicians had lost their lives by now.

Nevertheless, Martin and his family had managed to live a long-running quiet life.

Martin's eldest daughters adhered to his ban on magic. At least he believed this and as far as Marie was concerned, he was certainly right.

Another child had been born, again Martin had hoped for a son in vain. A fifth girl, now two-year-old Elena, had enriched the family.

Elena and her now five-year-old sister Elisa were a loving father.

For nights, he had carried them through the hut, in case of discomfort in their earliest childhood, and sang them lullabies.

Since Fleur, who had recently celebrated her thirteenth birthday, stopped using her magical abilities, at least according to Martin's knowledge, he had found less reason to be annoyed with her.

The relationship between father and daughter had relaxed a little. This was certainly due to Alina's influence, which she and her sister Marie had long since taken to heart.

On a warm spring day, the first this year, a squad of soldiers approached the house of Martin's family.

Unsettled, he sent his daughter Marie into the house. "Tell Alina and the others to stay indoors," Martin asked.

Marie hesitated for a moment, but then she entered the house and soon after stood by the window with the rest of the family and watched the soldiers talk to Martin.

"We have heard that your two daughters, Marie and Fleur, master the magic?" the captain of this group of soldiers asked him unkindly.

Martin hesitated with an answer. "Who says such a thing?"

"That has nothing to do with you! Attentive, loyal citizens told us this when we rode through here! Already your first wife is said to have been a witch! And your two daughters have at least magical abilities! Send them to us!" the captain asked the terrified Martin.

'That's not possible. I mean, they're almost still kids! What will happen to them?"

"Either execution or dungeon. The latter only if they are lucky and their judges are gracious!" said the captain with a mocking smile as his five companions, armed soldiers, descended from the horses and opened the door to the hut.

Her gaze fell on a woman holding a little girl on her arm. An older child clung to her arm, while a pretty, perhaps fourteen-year-old girl stroked over her head.

"Who is Marie? Who is Fleur?" one of the soldiers told the woman. "They're not there....." she stammered.

Now the captain who pushed Martin in front of him entered the hut.

"I just sent Marie in," he said, and his wife looked at him almost stunned and seemed to seriously doubt his mind.

." You must be wrong, Martin! The two are gone all morning. They wanted to go to the village...."

"But I got Marie in.... I don't mean in it..." Stammer Martin stammered.

The captain of the soldiers laughed contemptuously. "Two magicians are supposed to be protected here! Unfortunately, relatives do not always recognise the need to clean up this evil! Search the house!"

As the soldiers searched the house, Alessa clung to her stepfather's arm. "Where are they?" he asked anxiously, but Alessa remained silent for a moment before quietly saying, "You're sure to tell the soldiers!"

"If it becomes necessary to protect you, I will do it!" Martin replied softly and unhappily, looking at his stepdaughter forcefully. "If you know something, you have to tell me now!"

But Alessa remained silent and stared anxiously at the floor.

'They're not here! Search the surroundings!" the captain tells his people after they search for the two girls in all the cupboards and under the beds. 

They left the house and Alina pressed her youngest daughter into her husband's arms. "Be aware of Elena sensibly! You would have spoiled almost everything! Luckily, the two of them climbed out to the back window when we heard why the soldiers are here!"

"I knew that this cursed magic would get us in trouble again," Martin lamented as little Elena pulled by his hair.

"I want Fleur and Marie to come back," Elissa said. 

But her mother shook her head. "Unfortunately, this will not happen so quickly! They can't hide in the forest forever! I put a little money into them. Unfortunately, I don't know what will become of them!"

"They can't come here any more, can't they?" Alessa asked sadly. Her mother pressed her briefly. "No, unfortunately not. Now we have come to the attention of the two. They're not safe here anymore!"

"But they didn't do such bad things," Alessa muttered, depressed.

Marie and Fleur hid in the forest until nightfall, then they ventured out between the bushes between which they had hidden.

"We can't go home anymore," Marie said softly. Her sister nodded unhappily. 'We really can't do that. But where else should we go? To those people hiding in the mountains? Or looking for a job somewhere?" asked Fleut quietly.

"No one will want two girls travelling alone! Everyone will know why we left home!" Marie replied, depressed, but then she tried to get together.

If Fleur was otherwise the more lively and adventurous of the sisters, Marie took the lead.

Fleur looked at her older sister sadly. "Then really only the way to the mountains!" 


	14. Two new magicians?

Dario let go of Mary's hand when the door to his hut, which he lived in with the daughter of the late King Marius, opened.

Mary smiled. "Dario, everyone knows that we live together and that we don't stand together like brother and sister!"

"But I'm still uncomfortable, especially because of you. After all, you are...", Dario stammered, but Mary kept her mouth open.

"The daughter of a former king and the sister of a madman. I know. And I am the one who has chosen to live with you here. I think the best thing about the three of us was to hit me!"

"Better hit than whom?" they were interrupted by Maria's half-brother Norian, who entered the hut. 

"Better than Richard the creep and your father," Dario replied, a little embarrassed. After all, King Richard was also Norian's brother. But he did not go into it further. After all, he was not good at talking about his older half-brother for good reasons, and Dario doubted that this would ever change.

Norian turned to his sister. Over time, they had come a little closer. 

In the beginning, shortly after her arrival, Mary sometimes had to overcome herself to speak to Norian.

Too much was still the humiliation of her mother, who had for years had to come to terms with her husband's love with Norian's mother Sarina.

Sarina herself had, if possible, walked out of Mary's way. But so gradually Mary and Norian had come closer together. They had finally come to the conclusion that it was nonsensical to get out of the way, even though they actually liked each other. After all, the inglorious behavior of the parents, especially the father, was not their fault. Should they therefore be concerned about the friendship that has developed between them?

"Mary, newcomers have arrived! Some women and their children. Among them are also two magicians. They are still quite young and seem to have had a strenuous journey, rather an escape! Can you approach them a little bit? And put them somewhere?" Asked Norian his sister. Mary nodded and left the hut.

Refugees still arrived, albeit at irregular intervals and less frequently than before. This was partly due to the fact that many people in Arunien had now come to terms with the reign of King Richard and King Leopold. 

In addition, it required a great overcoming and usually a really important or terrible reason to leave the property and embark on a long and dangerous escape. Many did not dare to do so, preferring to pay higher taxes with a gnashing of teeth, and rejoiced when they otherwise remained untroubled.

Another reason was that many paths, especially those that led into the mountains, were monitored more strongly than before.

Nevertheless, the one or other refugees managed to reach the newly built settlement in the mountains. In fact, the name "Hoffnungsdorf" had become established among some, even if the official name was simply Bergdorf. But this seemed to many to be too unspectacular.

Shortly thereafter, Mary received two girls. They both wore tattered clothes and gave the impression that they had been on the road for a long time. They seemed tired and exhausted, and Mary looked at them with compassion.

"What are your names?" she asked compassionately. 

The two looked so young. But she herself had not been so much older when she had made her way to the refugees' refuge alone.

"My name is Fleur, this is my sister Marie," said one of the girls. Mary nodded and looked at Marie. "Then you're almost like me. My name is Mary.

"The princess who escaped? Everywhere people talk about it. And everyone knows the story by now!" Fleur inquired, looking curiously at the young woman. Her tiredness seemed to fall off her for a brief moment.

Mary nodded. She could imagine that such a story made an impression on a little girl. But hadn't she and her sister done exactly the same thing? 

"Yes, I used to be a princess. I'm not really here anymore. But that doesn't matter. And I hear you both master the magic?"

Fleur nodded, but her sister looked to the ground. "No, I don't master the magic! Fleur, unfortunately, already. But I have nothing to do with it!"

"Of course! You could do it just like me! And it doesn't bother anyone here! That's what one of the people we met in the mountains told us," Fleur said, astonished at her sister.

'She's scared of it. And she thinks it's devil's stuff!"

"That's true," said Marie, and the dead king's daughter sighed. "Of course you will have been told that. Just like you, many people think when they come here. They are afraid of their own abilities. But that's what we'll take care of later. I think I'm going to take you both to your accommodation now. There is still room in one of the huts."

Marie and Fleur followed the young woman. Suddenly the younger one stopped. "Do you see the man over there?"

She pointed to a tall man and her sister nodded. "I still know him. That's the man we met in the forest at the time!"

Mary looked at them in amazement. 'That's Bran. He's basically in charge here.'

She waved and Bran approached her. "What's there?" he asked.

Mary pointed to the two girls. "That's Fleur and Marie! They obviously know you!"

Bran thought for a moment, then he remembered. "Of course! Little Fleur saved my life at the time! They get into trouble with their father. And now you're here too?"

The last one he asked the young girl. Fleur, who was happy to see a familiar face, nodded. 

"Yes, but that was a long time ago. At that time I was still a little girl!"

"Yes, you're really grown up now," Bran said, and Maria saw that he suppressed a smile.

"You were a good healer, back then, even though you didn't have a proper education! We can use them well! Here, people get sick or injured again and again! But now we've had a little bit of experience with magic and I'm sure we can help you use your skills properly. But did you come alone with your sister? Where is the rest of your family?"

"They stayed at home! Our father would almost have betrayed us to the soldiers! They came to us and wanted to take us with them!" said Fleur with a hint of anger.

Her older sister looked at her admonishingly. "It was just by mistake! He accidentally promised himself...."..."

"Yes, either our father is vicious or stupid! I don't like either of them," Fleur said, with a hint of bitterness for which, in Bran's view, she was actually too young.

"Now you are at least safe! The soldiers of King Richard do not dare to come here!"

Fleur looked at him with hope. "That would be really nice. If we were safe here. Because it was quite hard to come here at all! We met these women who also fled. Their men were arrested and they were scared. That is why they fled. We had to hide so many times on the way to here!"

"Yes, it really wasn't easy," Marie said, tired, and Bran nodded.

'I can imagine it wasn't easy. Like you, it has happened to a great many people. But now you should both rest and rest a little. As for your magical abilities, we'll take care of them later. I'm sure you'll soon learn how to deal with it properly!"

Fleur seemed to like this view, but Marie was still not convinced. "I said I don't have any magic skills! I have nothing to do with it!"

Maria and Bran changed their eyes and decided not to deal with the topic for the time being, but to give the two girls the opportunity to find a little rest.

Martin sat at the table and reached for a piece of bread and began to cover it with sausage.

"Luckily, we got the good meat cheaply," he said.

Alina nodded, but did not answer. Instead, she handed her youngest daughter Elena a piece of bread. The little one then groped and pushed it into her mouth.

"I know you're worried about Marie and Fleur," Martin began, but his stepdaughter Alessa, who put a piece of sausage on little Elisa's plate, interrupted him.

"We're really worried! Fortunately, the soldiers left us alone. But they searched everything here for two days! I was so scared at the time that they caught her. But they escaped!"

"Whether that was so good? Perhaps it would have been better if....." replied Mathias, but his wife, who had been talking to him for some time, strictly since the two girls had fled, interrupted him. "You think it would have been better if you had caught them? If they had been convicted and executed as witches or jailed for life? What kind of father are you?"

At the last words, her voice cried with contempt and her husband looked at her unhappily. 'I didn't want her to die. But this uncertainty is terrible. And whether they could have lived a happy life with their magic is questionable. Maybe at least her soul would be...."

"Your soul has been saved by being executed before they properly deal with it? I don't believe it anymore! I wonder why you have a head on your shoulders! You know what, if I knew where to go, if I still had relatives somewhere, I would take my three children and leave you!" said Alina angrily, rising.

She placed her cup on the table with such a loud bang that little Elena dropped her bread on the floor and began to cry.

Her mother took her on her arm. "Well, little one.Dad is just a bit stupid again! And I have to tell him that sometimes!"

'I'm not stupid! I'm just trying to save our family from trouble," Martin defended himself in a weak voice, but his stepdaughter and wife looked at him with contempt. "Yes, you just want that!" 


	15. Magical Skills

A month had passed since their arrival in the mountains, so gradually Fleur and Marie had become accustomed to their refuge and familiarized with the customs prevailing there. Bran and Princess Mary had seen after them from time to time.

Gradually, the two young girls had recovered from their escape, but they were still very saddened by the behaviour of their father, who had betrayed them to the soldiers by a hair.

Were they really so indifferent to him? Or had he just accidentally said the wrong thing. One day they might be able to talk to him about it, but that day seemed to be a long way off.

One morning, the sun had ventured out between the clouds on a cool autumn day, Fleur and Marie Joris sat opposite a warming fire. They had met the young man a few days after their arrival and now Bran had sent him to them to get an idea of their magical abilities.

"I can heal injuries. Broken bones and also open wounds. Most of the time I've done this in animals. People don't always let me get close to me," Fleur said, a little sad.

"A woman from our village had broken her arm and I asked her if I should heal her. But she was scared and forbade me. And my father yelled at me and said I was going to put everyone back in jail."

"You hear something like that over and over again," Joris said sadly. "And unfortunately, many magicians who come here believe that they have done something really wrong. It's really very sad. According to the laws in force, they have also done something at least forbidden. But how can something that helps people be bad?"

"But the priests have said before that such a thing is sin. And God does not want you to do such things. Our mother died at Fleur's birth and she could have healed herself with magic. She didn't do that because she didn't want to go to hell. Father says she died at least with a clear conscience!" said Marie, while her sister gave her a nasty look. 'He's always blamed me. But it was he who wanted a child."

'That's not what it's about. It's about dad always saying that the magic is bad," Marie replied, a little impatient.

"And you believe that too?" Joris asked cautiously.

Marie looked on the ground. 'I don't know exactly what to believe. Some say that magic is bad and against God's will. And here it is allowed. I saw earlier the husband of Princess Maria, Dario. He has lit a fire by magic!"

Joris smiled when Marie dario referred to her husband as Maria. But wasn't he, in fact,? 'They might really get married and legitimise the whole thing. It's only a matter of time before maybe a child comes out of it," the young man thought, before returning his attention to the two girls.

"I'll tell you now how I see it. Priests say that God created men. He has given them their appearance, he has decided who will become a good warrior, who will have children, or who will lead an unhappy life."

Marie nodded. "Yes, as the priests say."

"I knew a woman who understood unspeakably well how to handle animals. People always said that God had given her the gift of almost communicating with the animals. And to my mother they always said that God had given her the talent to embroider pretty blankets in the cradle. This is what people say time and again to great poets who write beautiful songs and poems. All these gifts come from God!" said Joris, and the two girls agreed.

Fleur understood what Joris wanted. "If God wants someone to be able to embroider well or to be a good warrior, does he want him to be a magician?"

Joris nodded with a smile. "That's exactly what I think. After all, according to the priests, he created the people. Why then should he give them gifts that he does not want to exist? So I think the priests are even insulting their God by insinuating it!"

"That's kind of true," Fleur said, relieved, while Marie looked at the young man reproachfully. 

"But to say something like that is bad enough! Magic is not a good thing. After all, there are also magicians who perform other spells. Those who hurt people! Or make them sick. You should generally leave your fingers out! After all, magicians have also helped defeat King Marius's army. There has been nothing good about that! In a fight in which they would have renounced such a thing, they might not have won!"

"Maybe they won because they used all the possibilities they had and our people didn't!" replied Joris, but Marie stood up. 'I don't want to deal with it. I don't want anything to do with it, I'm not a witch!"

She rushed away while Joris and Fleur looked after her.

'She's just as much a witch as I am. When we were little, she used her skills sometimes. She once helped me heal a little mouse. She had trapped her cock in a trap and was bleeding heavily. That's when Marie healed it," Fleur said of an experience from her and Marie's childhood. 

"And then a year ago, our little sister, Elissa, almost cut off a finger while secretly playing with a knife. That's what Marie did. Then she took Elissa in her arms and apologized for using magic. Elissa didn't care, she was just glad her finger didn't hurt anymore and she went to play. But Marie felt bad about it. It would have been much worse if our little sister had lost a finger. But Marie doesn't want to know about it

"It's a great pity," Joris said. "But then we both have to continue our conversation on our own. So you are above all a healer. Unfortunately, my spells are not so helpful, at least not for sick people. I struggle to heal a small wound. But first and foremost, I inflict injuries on people, especially burns...."

"So you are one of those who warn the priests the most. You don't look like that!" said Fleur, astonished.

"No, I don't look like a monster. I have no horns, no long tail and no horse hooves. Besides, my skin is not fire red and I don't have a flame sword in my hand. Are you disappointed now?" asked Joris amusedly, before adding: 

"It also took me a lot of time to accept that these skills are a part of me. I didn't like it lightly either. And Marie probably needs a little more time!"

"When she learns that you're mostly about such ,... she certainly doesn't want to have anything to do with you anymore. Don't tell her," Fleur advised the young man.

"That might really be the best thing," Joris replied thoughtfully. 


	16. The New Queen of Arunien

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is about King Richard, who is having a great day. Even if it doesn't go quite the way he would like it to.
> 
> So have fun reading.

King Richard put on his best shirt, made for today's occasion, a big day ahead. Today he would get married.

His young bride, eighteen-year-old Niona, came from the high nobility of Arunia and her family had always been popular with the people. He hoped that this marriage would polish up his bad reputation in the country a little.

" _Richard the Creep_ calls me this pack," the king thought angrily, and pulled over his coat, which a servant handed him.

Basically, he was not particularly interested in the opinion of the mob. Unfortunately, however, more and more people have fled in recent years. 

In the mountains, where his half-brother Norian, Bran, his father's former bodyguard and above all magicians were hiding.

"This people will end up getting too much insurgency if there is an uprising," Richard thought in a bad mood. 

The people ran away from him and, despite all the measures taken to prevent them from doing so by force, too many people still escaped.

It was only the day before that he had executed two men and a woman in public. The three had been tracked down by his people as they tried to flee into the mountains. One of the men had magical abilities and his execution was much more painful than that of the others.

"They just got what they deserved," Richard thought contentedly. 

'They shouldn't have escaped. Why didn't the other two report their boyfriend? That he secretly wields magic? They would have been rewarded. Instead, they wanted to flee together. They have to blame their fate on themselves!"

King Richard's thoughts wandered to his young bride. She didn't seem too fond of him. 

But what did this do? His own mother had to marry his father, nor had she been asked. And he had humbled them for years by his love of sarina, and made them a mockery of the people.

Had nampering Queen not always been mocked and quietly ridiculed? He would not expect this from his young wife. 

"I will introduce breeding and order in the country and at least lead by example in this matter! In the future, spouses who cheat on each other will be punished with long prison sentences or even death!" Richard reflected on his future plans.

In the next few days, he would enact new, corresponding laws.

Many hours later, the night had already fallen over Arunien, King Richard, surrounded by the entire nobility of the country, sat at the table in his large festival hall. His newlywed wife, Niona, sat beside him with a pale face.

He handed her a cup of wine. "Now don't make such a face, Niona! You are now Queen of Arunien! Other ladies would envy you!"

Niona lowered her gaze. It was obvious that she felt more than uncomfortable. 

"Please excuse me," she said, rising.

"Don't stay away for too long! We don't want us to be fooled, do we? That you're not happy about this connection in the end. Such talk arises very quickly when a young bride leaves her husband at the high-times banquet!" laughed Richard.

The new queen gave him a fleeting smile. "No, I only have to do it once.... out."

"Oh, we all have to," laughed the king, raising his mug with the wine. "A high on my new queen!"

Queen Niona stood by the window and stared out. She had not wanted to marry King Richard, but her parents had long talked to her and threatened to send her to the monastery.

And in the end, she had come to the thought that there was worse to be than to become Queen of Arunia.

She disliked the way her newly married husband treated the people of the country. As Queen, she might be able to do something for her.

But now there was another problem to solve. Of course, the king had wanted to marry an untouched young girl. But she was no longer.

Now the wedding night was upon her and she had to somehow put it behind her and at the same time keep her secret. Her grandmother had advised her on this delicate matter....

Niona smiled at the thought of how she would do this....

Shortly thereafter, the king entered the chamber and drew Niona into his arms. "Now we both finally have time for ourselves, my dear! You are really a very beautiful woman....."

Niona withdrew a bit. "First of all, I want to start with you alone! My grandmother gave me this advice, that's supposed to mean happiness and fertility for marriage," she said, handing the king a cup of wine.

Richard laughed. "Yes, that's a very good idea! So, let's drink on a good marriage and fertility. To many sons you will give me!"

Richard and Niona taught the cups with the wine and then placed them on a small table.

The king grabbed his head almost immediately. "But that's a very good drop...."

The new queen smiled. "Yes, this is really a good drop. My grandmother recommended it to me especially for a wedding night like ours...."

Richard tormented to bed and dropped on it. Niona lay down next to him. "And now we both rest a little....."

The next morning, King Richard awoke with severe headaches. His young wife sat next to him and stroked his cheek.

"My head hurts! I don't really remember last night...."

"Not? So this night will be unforgettable to me, my dear!" laughed Queen Niona. "You gave me an unforgettable experience, which I was completely clueless!"

"Really? I remember that..... Of course still very good!" said Richard, who really had no idea whether he had spent the night with his wife or not.

But should he admit this and ridicule himself? If she said that was the case, it would probably have been.

"And now you certainly want your breakfast, don't you?" asked Queen Niona. "I told the servants to bring us beautiful egg cakes! They should be right here. I have a great appetite for that. After the last night I need a strong breakfast!"

"Me too," agreed Richard, who turned his stomach at the thought of eating.

In fact, an hour later, the king lay in bed with severe stomach cramps, and Queen Niona looked happily into the morning sun that shone through the window. 

This sleeping pill in the king's wine cup had really had a good effect. Ihe's husband thought he had had a wonderful night with her and she didn't have to admit to him afterwards that she had long since lost her innocence to a stable boy.

Her grandmother's warning to forgo eggs after taking the shady drug had reversed her. Should this terrible husband still suffer from his bloating and nausea.

Now two court doctors dressed in black entered the room and set out to examine the king.

"My king, your belly is.... terribly bloated! You have spoiled your stomach. I cannot do anything about that. Maybe a few leeches...", advised the first doctor.

"Leeches? No, we'll do a bloodletting right away! We should also give the court priest a few pieces of gold to say prayers," the other doctor disagreed.

'I don't really know. Maybe we should stab with a needle in the abdomen so that the gases...", the first doctor now carefully suggested.

"Enough is enough!" king Richard shouted. "You are all just quackers! I need someone to free me from my suffering! Are there no more healers in the dungeon? Create one who knows healing spells. He shall heal my sick stomach!"

"A magician?" the two doctors asked, terrified. "But something like that is sin and you have ordered yourself that..."

"That what? Make me a magician! On the spot!" roared King Richard, grasping his belly. "That pain....

In fact, a short time later, a young magician with chains on his hands was pushed into the room by two soldiers.

His black hair was matted and his face showed signs of beatings. The Queen cast a pitying glance at him.

"You're a magician? You are known for healing spells?"

The young man nodded. "Yes, but...."

"No but! Free my husband from his stomach ailments! He ate something wrong! And it will not hurt you...."..." the Queen asked him.

The young man nodded and placed a hand on the king's belly. "It's really... inflated...", he muttered, but then his hand and the king's belly cover below briefly lit up.

King Richard grabbed his stomach. "My pain is gone! I'm fine again! These quackery wouldn't have gotten that! What is your name?"

The latter he asked the magician, whom the two soldiers had re-packed. "My name is..."

But now King Richard shook his head. "It doesn't matter what you're called. You have become in jail because of the use of magic. What have you been condemned for? Stake? Gallows? No matter, I will be gracious! After all, you helped me, albeit through forbidden magic!"

The king turned to his two soldiers. "Make the executioner kill him as soon as possible. No shame of a public execution! It should pay off that he helped me, no one should say that it is not worth it....

The magician was taken out of the room and King Richard rose out of bed. 

"What a beautiful morning, my dear Niona! And now I will write a long letter thanking King Leopold for his wedding gift and congratulations on the wedding!"

Queen Niona nodded unhappily. The young magician was sorry for her. Couldn't Richard have pardoned him in full? But she had a thought. Maybe she could do something for him.

"Richard, you don't mind if I'm looking for a few servants for my own little court, right? I need a maid, a seamstress, a servant...."

The king nodded. "Look around among my people and choose who you need! I'm sure people will feel honored to serve you! But this afternoon we will show ourselves to the people! Let everyone see my beautiful new queen and know that her king is doing well! I'm sure there are already rumors about mine.... Discomfort is going to be awkward!"

"Yes, and I am sure the people were already deeply concerned for you and your health," the Queen said. 


	17. The unfaithful Queen.....

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like the chapter. You can learn how to go with Queen Niona after her wedding to King Richard.

Queen Niona yawned and put aside the book in which she had read the last hour. 

She waved her servant Babette and her servant Fredric. 

"This book is really not very worth reading. I really wonder what King Leopold was thinking of bringing it to the people. " _The justice of the rulers knows no bounds!_ " With such a reading, it is actually fortunate that the majority of people in Arunien cannot read!"

Babette smiled and left the room with a Cape of the Queen she wanted to sew, while the young servant Fredric nodded. "Yes, it really is.... badly written! His expression is sometimes a little, let's say.... idiosyncratic!"

The Queen laughed. "You think he has no sense of style or expression. He's a very bad writer! Just like my husband, therefore his court clerk has to reword all the letters and make sure that the dear Richard does not know! Otherwise, he takes this as an insult...."

Fredric received the book when the Queen handed it to him. Her hands touched for a brief moment and she smiled.

"We have to be very good! Last night we were very careless! If the king had known that you had not left my chamber this morning because you had just brought me my breakfast...."

"He's not going to find out," Fredric said. 'He has no idea how many nights I've spent here. This one...."

The Queen laughed briefly and then grinned conspiratorially. "So Fredric! So you think my beloved husband is a fool! It's him, "Richard the Great." He has commanded his people to spread this name to the people for him! He hopes they will pay more attention to him. But they continue to stick with _"Richard the Creeper"!"_

Fredric laughed and stroked the cheek of his lover. "No, I don't think my benevolent king is stupid! He who was kind enough not to let me be executed in public....."

Queen Niona's smile disappeared. "I don't like to think back to that! Luckily, it didn't happen, even if it cost me a few jewels! But for you I gladly gave them....

_In fact, the executioner had already drawn a sword to behead Fredric, the magician who would otherwise have found an even worse ending, in the dungeon. Two men detained the convict as the Queen entered the room._

_Immediately the execution broke off and the queen ordered him to release the convict._

_The executioner initially refused, eventually he had been ordered to kill the magician who had healed the king from his terrible abdominal cramps quickly and without much fuss._

_He was used to obeying his Lord's orders and basically he loved his work. He had voluntarily chosen to work as an executioner and always regretted being allowed to perform his office so rarely under King Marius's rule...._

_After all, he had been allowed to behead the former king himself, and it had almost felt like a wink of fate._

_Good times had dawned for him afterwards and many times he felt almost overwhelmed in recent times, because there were so many death sentences to be executed...._

_And now he should and wanted to behead this young magician, fast and painless. The executioner did not particularly like such works, he preferred other methods of execution. Unfortunately, he had not been asked this time and he had to keep to his king's orders._

_But the Queen had insisted on taking the prisoner with her._

_"I'm just making my own little servantship. This young magician may even have saved my beloved husband's life! Would you have preferred my husband's body to have been further inflated? What if he hadn't survived? That would have been terrible! I am very grateful to this magician for this reason and if he is in my service he will never use magic again! I will make sure of that. He will become a good person again! He has already proved that good is in him when he healed the poor king!" said Queen Niona earnestly, looking at the executioner as strictly as possible._

_"But for his help to the king he was already rewarded by a quick death!" the executioner refused uncertainly, and finally the Queen spoke the language that almost everyone understood. The language of money._

_She pulled a few jewels out of a bag and handed them to the executioner. "Take them! And give me the prisoner as a servant!"_

_"If you go to me one more of them, I tell the king that I duly beheaded him," the executioner said with a grin. A few jewels were worth more to him than an execution, which did not bring him any joy anyway._

_Queen Niona handed him two more jewels. "Don't get too greedy!"_

_The prisoner was freed from his chains and left the eerie and damp dungeons with the Queen._

_"From now on, you are officially my servant," Queen Niona said as they entered their light-flooded private rooms._

_"It's the safest place for you! The king has given me a complete free hand in choosing my personal servants and they are under my protection!"_

_The young man nodded in silence and the Queen compassionately asked him to heal the bruises on his face. "It looks painful. They handled you really unscathed!"_

_A little hesitantly, he followed her invitation._

_"You've used magic many times, haven't you?" niona inquired, when she saw how skilfully the magician healed his injuries. "You knew exactly what you were doing when you freed the king from his abdominal cramps!"_

_"Yes, I knew," the young magician said softly. "I have already cured more frequent injuries or illnesses. In my village there was nothing against magicians, they didn't think much of the bans and our old village healer taught me. She taught me a lot._

_But a few weeks ago the soldiers came to us and one of them was injured in the leg. My old teacher healed the wound, but then the soldiers said that such a thing was forbidden and took us with us. She was executed a few days ago...."_

_"What is your name?" the Queen asked sympatheticly, noticing the sad face of her new servant._

_"Fredric," he said softly._

_In addition to Fredric, the new queen had taken on a young girl named Babette as a servant and an old seamstress who called herself Cristina._

_While she instructed the new servants a few days later into her future work, Richard had come in, had taken a glimpse of the three, and then turned to his wife._

_"My beauty, tonight we are having a big party! Watch you wear a gorgeous dress! Let them all see how beautiful my wife is! The woman who married me, her king!"_

_The Queen nodded and pointed to her servants. "These are Babette, Fredric and Cr...."_

_Richard waved off. What interested him was his wife's servants? He did not give up with such easily replaceable people. To Fredric's relief, the king did not take note of him either, but probably did not even recognize him._

_"I leave it entirely to you who works for you! As long as they prepare you for tonight....."_

_"They will," Niona said, while Richard gave her a kiss on the cheek and left the room._

_A few days after the festival, Niona had accidentally cut herself in the hand with a knife as she tried to cut an apple in half._

_Swearing at her ineptitude, she had set about connecting the wound when Fredric entered the room with a tray._

_Uncertainly, he had looked at the Queen. 'I know it's forbidden here. But I could heal that quickly....."_

_Gratefully, Niona had looked at him and he had gently taken her hand and quickly healed the injury. But he had held their hand tightly for longer than necessary and they had looked each other in the eye....._

Since then, the Queen has spent a great deal of time with her personal servant, who followed her almost everywhere.

Only the fact that he had to share his mistress with the king on some nights did not please him and on those nights Fredric found no sleep.

Most of the time, Queen Niona managed to put her husband out of action with a potion, and before he came to take off his shirt, he sank to the ground asleep.

Then she dragged him to bed and laid him there while she tried to find a little sleep herself. 

Unfortunately, this did not always succeed and Niona's husband did not prove to be rough, but as a clumsy and almost rabid lover.

She was never with him with her thoughts and she mockingly thought how little fitting the name "Richard the Great" was...... 


	18. Finally united

Bran had injured his leg while chopping wood and wrapped a makeshift bandage around the deep wound when he knocked on Sarina's door.

She looked terrified at the bloody rags.

"What did you do?" she asked, supporting Bran. She helped him sit on a chair and pushed a second one on which he put his leg.

His face was pale and for Sarina it was more than obvious that he was in great pain.

"Of course he doesn't want to show it," thought the king's former lover, and would have preferred to scold him like a child. In front of her, he really didn't need to play the hero.

"How did it happen?" she repeated her question, pushing Bran a mug of water instead of swearing.

"I wanted to chop wood," Bran said, a little embarrassed. "I slammed, but slipped because I hadn't laid the wood properly. Please don't tell you any more. It's me..... Embarrassing. After all, I'm the leader here."

Sarina, despite her concern, had to laugh. "So I don't think people lose respect for you because you hit yourself in the leg while chopping wood! After all, Richard the Creep does much more embarrassing and worse things and he still has followers!"

"Then it's good. I am relieved that I am not on a par with him!" said Bran, smiling, and Sarina left the hut.

"I'll get one of the healers," she shouted to him, as the door fell into the castle, leaving Bran waiting.

Shortly thereafter, Sarina returned with Fleur and Joris. Embarrassed, Bran looked at them.

"I've had a mishap," Bran said. "I hope no one noticed!"  
"Well, you've been hurt, of course, you've already noticed. Some people saw you humbling to my hut," Sarina said with a sneaky smile. 'But then I just said you hurt yourself when you fought with a pack of wolf. There were at least ten wolves and of course you took the victory!"

Now Bran laughed. "Luckily, then they still think of me as a hero, what? Well, but will they believe that?

"Not at all," Sarina smiled, turning to Fleur and Joris. "You both can heal this, can't you?"

Joris gave Fleur a little pusher. "Do you do that! You know, I don't care so much about healing magic! I'm probably just making it worse!"

Fleur nodded and removed the makeshift bandage from the wound. 'It doesn't look that bad. I can do that!"

Proudly, her voice resonated, and Bran noted with satisfaction that the pain in her leg subsided and healed the wound as the girl put her hand on her leg and focused on healing.

"Luckily she could accept her skills as something good," Bran thought, and after Fleur had finished her healing spell, she stood up with Jori's help.

"Good work, little ones! Once again, this is not the first time you have been helping me!" said Bran, briefly patting the young healer's cheek. 

She looked at him happily. "Joris thinks I'm making good progress. He thinks I'm really good at it!"

"Yes, she is one of the best here in terms of healing spells. In the meantime, she can control her magic very well, "Joris fleur's statement confirmed. "We really need one like them here."

Bran nodded with a smile. "But I think you've done enough for today. You certainly want to go to the animals a little bit, don't you? We got new lambs. Look at them!"

Fleur happily left the hut and Joris looked after her. 'She's really still a little girl. With small animals you can still bait them. Surely she will sit in the stable afterwards and hold the little animals in her arms!"

Then Jori's gaze darkened. "Unfortunately, the situation is still different with her sister Marie. Neither I nor any of the other magicians are able to teach her. Every time the language comes to it, it closes. She's not doing well, but she just can't get over it.'  
"Poor Marie," Bran muttered. "Maybe I should talk to her about it!"

Joris left the hut while Bran turned to Sarina. "But at least we don't need to worry about Fleur."

"It's nice to see how well she has settled in, I also hope that we will find a solution for Marie," Sarina replied, pointing briefly at Bran's upper arm. "And your leg is really fine again?"

He held her hand and looked at her seriously. "Yes, it's okay again! But when I see what worry you worry about me, if I make a small cut, I will probably do it more often! And if I want you not to soften from my side, maybe I should fight again in a big battle...."..."

"Bran, that's not funny!" Sarina interrupted him earnestly, but he shook his head. "I like it when you....."

"I know," Sarina replied, giving him a cautious smile. "Maybe... I would also be willing.... try it with you without cutting off a foot!"

"Do you think this is serious now?" Bran asked her in disbelief, and she already feared that he would stumble in terror and injure himself again.

"Yes, I mean it seriously, Bran!" she said, adding, "Marius has been dead for a long time and you've always been by my side ever since. And before I knew him, I almost decided for you...."

Bran pulled them into his arms and old memories came up in him. He saw himself and Sarina a long time ago when they were dancing at a village festival and he did not dare ask her if she wanted to be his wife.....

  
Shyly, she had kissed him in the evening, in front of her parents' house, but even there he had not had the courage.

A few days later, King Marius had crossed the village and Bran had joined his soldiers. 

He first wanted to make money so that he could offer something to his sarina. Then he wanted to make her a request.

King Marius had gladly welcomed the strong young man into his army, but unfortunately also started to woo the young Sarina.

Bran had withdrawn because he did not dare to compete with a king whom he still valued.

"Basically, it was almost a misunderstanding that Sarina turned to the king," Bran recalled regretfully. 

Sarina had been very sad that her admirer withdrew and only gradually she had engaged with the king, who offered her a job at the court.

Later, her son Norian had already been on the road, she had once entrusted him with the fact that she had only engaged with the king because he seemed to have lost interest in her....

Bran had gathered all the courage at the time and told her that this was not the case, but it had already been too late. Now Sarina's heart belonged to the king and so it should remain for many years.....

Bran had rarely sought solace from another woman in all this time and never really found him. He had made two young ladies rather half-heartedly the court, but could never get himself to marry one of them.

He had never forgotten Sarina, and he was sorry to see her often sad, as the king found little time for her and their son.

Later, she had often been exposed to Richard's hostility and had withdrawn from the court, as the king also advised her to do so.

"I should have asked you at the time if you wanted to marry me! We have lost far too much time, over twenty years!" sighed Bran and Sarina nodded. "I would have said yes at the time if you had asked me! On the spot I would have married you.... on the other hand, I wouldn't have my son....."

Bran did not answer, but he enjoyed sarina snuggling closer to him and it was obvious that she did not want to waste more time. 


	19. A wedding....

Princess Mary smiled happily at Dario, who had been her husband for a few moments, and he pulled her into his arms.

She enjoyed the moment. Your first moments as a wife....

Then she turned to her half-brother Norian and briefly hugged him. "I wish you all the best..." he said, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. " It's going to be good. In fact, it has been for a long time. But now everything outwardly is correct!"

In secret, Mary was glad that her and Dario's coexistence had now been legalized. 

"It is also a good thing that we live here in the mountains and no longer at your father's court, Mary!" said Dario softly and Mary nodded. 

As much as she had appreciated her father, she was also aware that he would never have consented to such a marriage.

"I am now twenty-two years old. In other circumstances, I would be married to some aristocrat and already have at least two children!" she thought, feeling a slight stab in regret. 

Until now, her and Dioio's coexistence had not led to a child, and she gradually wondered if they would ever have children.

On the other hand, despite what has been achieved so far, life in the mountains was hard and only thanks to the magicians who practiced healing spells, the few newborns who had existed in recent years had survived the first period of their lives.

Maybe it was really lucky that they didn't have a child together? 

Mary decided today, on the day of her wedding, not to think of the things that oppressed her. Today there was cause for joy and when Dario gently stroked her cheek she knew he was doing the same.

Marie and her sister Fleur had watched the wedding and the younger one had not escaped the glances Marie threw at Joris, who was a long way away.

"Someone is in love, what?" she asked a little mockingly, but Marie turned her gaze away from Joris. "No, certainly not. But not in someone like him...."

Fleur sighed. "He's a magician and that bothers you, I know! And he's a few years older than you. You are still far too young....."

"Above all, it bothers me that he masters this terrible spell. He can ignite things and hurt people with them! In the meantime, I have come to terms with your healing magic. But the other..... It's scary to me," Marie whispered, grabbing her sister's hand.

She pulled Fleur behind her until they had distanced themselves from the spectators of the wedding ceremony.

"When do you finally stop, Marie?" Fleur inquired as they came to a halt. "You have so far refused to work on your own magical abilities. But that you reject someone like Joris because he....."

"I'm really trying! Have I ever said anything about using your magic all the time? Did I say anything when this old woman helped Berta's young son last winter? Or was I against the fact that you took care of Norian's leg when he fell off the horse unhappily?" asked Marie, her sister shaking her head. "No, you didn't say anything about it! Father would have done it, but you wouldn't!"

"You really can't ask for more from me! And even if I don't use magic myself, I try to make myself useful! I help to store the fruits, help with cooking and keep the little children! I also take care of the animals and helped the cow the other day when she gave birth to a small calf. It didn't even need magic and the little calf is fine!" defended Marie.

In silence, Fleur had to agree with her sister. In fact, Marie helped wherever she was needed, and by now even seemed to be friended that there were magicians who used healing spells. 

"But Joris wouldn't be eligible for you, even if everything else was right!" she said.

Marie nodded. "A man who uses healing magic would be for me.... Acceptable. But someone who has these horrible....."

Fleur shook her head disapprovingly, then grinned sneakyly. "Imagine if he had warts! That would be much worse!"

"What would be worse?" a voice rang out at one point, and the sisters drove around. Behind them, Joris stood and looked at them amused. "And who has warts? Fleur, but that's what you should take care of! You don't even need magic to get rid of them!"

Marie looked embarrassed to the ground while Fleur laughed. "Yes, it is enough to say a prayer at full moon. Then the warts disappear. And we talked about...... the old Grete! She has warts!"

"Poor woman," Joris said, giving Marie a friendly smile. "You are so quiet today! Is everything okay with you? You don't have this wart problem, don't you?"

"No!" cried Marie indignantly and embarrassedly at the same time. 'Of course it's not about me! Certainly not! I really don't have any.... Warts!"

Fleur clearly looked at her sister, how uncomfortable she thought that Joris might think of her beating herself with warts.....

"If we dance afterwards, you dance with me, don't you?" asked Joris, changing the awkward theme, but Marie shook her head. "I.... can't dance!"

"I don't either," Joris replied. "Then it fits quite well!"

"I.... "I have to leave for a moment," Marie said, hurrying away. Fleur followed her. "Be glad that he asks you to dance. No one has ever asked me."

"But what if he does it because he does something.... feels for me? Something that goes beyond friendship. I just told you why he wasn't eligible for me. He hurts people with his magic!"  
"He asked you if you were dancing with him. Just like Elsa, Pelina and the old Hannah! He is just kind to you and he likes you. He hasn't proposed to you, and you're certainly too young for him, you're only fifteen!" Fleur sighed impatiently. "So dance with him! I would be happy if Norian asked me...."

"Norian? The son of King Marius? So you should hit it out of your head. He is also too old for you and you are still a year younger than me! Sons of kings also do not allow themselves to be involved with such as us!"

Fleur shrugged. "The king's daughter married one like us today!"

"But he was still a little bit above us. We're just a few stupid little things from the country!" said Marie. 

"Maybe we shouldn't deal with male beings at all. This only brings difficulties! Why Dad absolutely wanted a boy is a mystery to me anyway! They only annoy you, use harmful spells or are sons of kings!" laughed Fleur, holding her sister by the hand. 

"So, and now we go back to the wedding and if someone asks us if we dance with him, we say no! Or I'll dance with you!"

"That would be the solution to our problem," Marie replied in a good mood, and the sisters returned hand in hand to the other villagers.... 


	20. A joyful message and a farewell....

Queen Niona carefully stroked over her still flat stomach. For a few hours now, she knew she was expecting a child.

The king's doctors had examined her for a long time and had finally concluded that she was around the beginning of the third month of her pregnancy. 

She herself had suspected this for some time, but the doctors had looked at her at the beginning of the examination inconclusively and kept pushing around on her stomach.

"At least these quackers didn't want to drill a hole in my belly to see if there was a child in it," the young queen thought mockingly, hoping never to suffer a serious condition. Then she would be at the mercy of these madmen on a prosperous and spoilt way.....

She liked the idea of having a child in a few months. Unfortunately, she didn't know whose child was growing up in her belly. 

Was it the king's offspring, what would he expect from it? Or was it Fredric's child, which she hoped.

"Please, be from Frederic! Be of him," Niona whispered softly as she heard loud steps approaching her chamber.

The door was opened and King Richard stormed in. Almost happy and with a beaming smile, he embraced his wife and pressed her on.

Reluctantly, Niona let this pass over her, after all, the pregnancy offered her an opportunity to avoid being together with her unloved husband in the future.

"Well, Richard.... we must be careful and not be so stormy any more! The doctors have said that in the future you will... must hold back. A child in his mother's belly can feel disturbed when the father is asleep in the same bed!" she said, looking at him seemingly regretfully and sighing, "I always enjoy your presence so much!"

"I can't do more..... come to you? Really? I didn't even know that! But of course I will take into account my future heir to the throne," King Richard said, shaking his head. 

'But it's still a little weird and I wonder what these madmen will recommend next time. But if it helps my heir to come into the world healthy, I have to stick to it! I hope you're not too sad about it. As soon as the child is there, we will spend a lot of time together again, and especially our nights. But I don't like it either."

"It's not my idea, it's that of the court doctors!" said Niona, giving her husband a kiss on the cheek. "Just rejoice that we're having a child!"

"I hope it will be a boy! Then the people see that my dominion is under a blessed star!" said Richard, sticking over Niona's belly. 

"But basically I'm glad you're finally pregnant! After all, we've been married for a year and I was afraid you'd be infertile! Then I would have had to part with you and marry another woman! A barren queen is the downfall of a kingdom! This has happened over and over again throughout history!"

The young queen would have liked to have laughed loudly and mockingly, but she held back.

"Well, I'm not barren, Richard!" said Niona as kindly as possible. 

"Maybe you are infertile and the child is not of you at all!" the Queen added in her thoughts, but tried to keep smiling as her husband gently stroked her cheek.

In the evening, Fredric secretly entered the Queen's chamber. Frightened, she looked at him. "At the moment you shouldn't let yourself be seen here at night! The king has posted additional guards in the aisle! You took a big risk when you sneaked in here. How did you do that in the first place?"

" I took the opportunity during the changing of the guard. And as for the king, he worries about you. He's afraid you can be kidnapped or done something to you as long as you have your child in your belly!" said Fredric, adding, "That's how you tell yourself in the servants!"

Niona nodded. "He is happy that he is becoming a father and he is determined to have new coins minted when his son is born! These coins should then show his face and the child's face!"

"Is it his child? Or mine?" Fredric asked, seemingly calmly, but Niona sensed that he didn't feel comfortable thinking he didn't know whose child was growing up.

'I don't know! Both would be possible! We will have to wait and see who looks like the little one!" the Queen said softly, hugging her secret lover.

"I wish it was your child. Our child!" she said, and he nodded. Then he gently stroked over her hair.

'It doesn't matter who the child is. The important thing is that the king believes that it is his. When he learns the truth..."

'He's not allowed to know. Luckily, he is.... too stupid to even consider that he couldn't be the father. In fact, I should have a bad conscience towards him. But I can't!" said Niona, reaching for Fredric's hand. 

But she was plagued by her conscience. Not because of Richard. But Fredric....

"You won't be able to come to me as often in the near future. Above all, we must no longer meet on our own. I don't want anyone to suspect and even the slightest suspicion that the child couldn't be Richards! Not everyone here at the court is as gullible as Richard," the Queen said softly.

"Yes, it is better to be the son of a king than the little bastard of a magician who was once condemned to death!" said Fredric mockingly, pulling away his hand. 

"Maybe it's better if I look for a different position in the near future! Not immediately, of course, that might cause a stir. But it is better if I gradually distance myself from your proximity and leave....."

"You want to leave?" asked Niona, visibly concerned. "But I..... love you. I don't want you to go!"

"I don't want to," Fredric sighed. "But what else is left for us? The king must not draw suspicion!"

"And where do you want to go?" asked Niona quietly. "Do you want to make your way to these refugees in the mountains? Or take a job somewhere?"

Steps rang out and Fredric looked around for a hiding place. As quickly as possible, he hid behind a curtain when the door opened and an old servant came in.

"I thought I'd heard a noise! Is there anyone here?"

"No, there is no one here," Niona said quickly, and the old servant nodded. "That would be better for you. I would like to give you good advice. See that you are always alone, especially at night....."

With a strange smile on her lips, the servant left the room and Fredric ventured out behind the curtain.

"So it's already being rattled!" he said, and unhappily Niona looked at him. "You really won't be able to stay...."

The Queen hugged the young magician and he pressed her. For a moment, they seemed to cling to each other. They knew they could no longer stay together and maybe they would never be again.

A possible child together, which she would have connected, would now separate her from each other. 


	21. A joyful event....

The news that the Queen of Arunien was expecting a child also reached out to the refugees in the mountains.

"That's when Richard got something," Norian said one evening, when he took over the Night's Watch with Dario and Linus.

They had lit a fire in front of them and beat the time of their guard with conversations dead.

"Yes, no one would have trusted him! Maybe he wasn't himself!" laughed Linus, while Dario looked silent and depressed to the ground.

Norian knew what was going on in his brother-in-law. Didn't he and Mary also want a child, despite the difficult circumstances? And now Richard of all people had achieved something that Dario and Maria tried in vain....

"The child will certainly be like his father," Norian said. "So I'm sorry for the Queen. I don't want to have to endure another person like Richard near me."

"Children don't have to be like their fathers! Richard, after all, did not come after his father, and you are different from him. And above all, you're not like your brother!" said Dario, who didn't want to be cheered up while Linus laboriously suppressed a yawn.

"I want to hope so," Norian said thoughtfully after a while.

'I don't want to be like either of them. I know you think a lot about my father and compared to Richard he was a good king. But he also had his mistakes.... my mother wasn't always happy by his side! She was subjected to a lot of hostility and he often didn't do too much to protect her. It was the same for me. As a child, I had to take several beatings from Richard, but he didn't care. He said that Richard's anger was understandable and that I had to learn to defend myself against him. But unfortunately he was older and bigger than me....." Norian recalled of the past.

"Well, by now you're grown up and maybe you'd have a chance against him in the fight," Linus said, throwing a log into the fire. "You could fight him and defeat him. Then we make you the new king of Arunien...."

Norian shook his head. "Forget it. There are others, for example Mary, who have more claims to the throne than I do, at least many would see it that way."

"Well, she's a woman, and she's married to someone who doesn't....." Linus said, but she was silent.

"How please?" asked Dario, half amused and half annoyed. "You're talking about me right now. And Mary would give up a good queen. But King Marius has once again confirmed these old laws that exclude women from succession. Richard, by the way, did the same...."

"Yes, I said it already. My father was better than Richard, but by no means a perfect king!" said Norian.

**A few months later:**

In the capital of Arunia, residents learned in the early morning that the king had become the father of a son.

It rained lightly and few people were already on the streets in the early hours, only in the market square some traders set up their stalls.

Fredric also learned the news at this place and that morning, when he and the fruit merchant Peter loaded a box of apples from a cart and carried it to the market stall.

"Now the creep has... I mean the king a son. What do you say? Well, we should be pleased about that. Maybe he's happy now and that's good for all of us!" said Peter as they put the box on the floor.

"We still have to get the pears and the plums, then we'll go to the stand for today!"

Fredric nodded in silence. He did not know whether he should rejoice at the news of the birth of the little heir to the throne. 

Since he was no longer in the service of the Queen, he had not left the city, despite the danger of being exposed as a magician.

Fredric had initially toyed with the idea of smashing his way into the mountains. But he did not want to leave Niona in spite of everything and had watched her a few days ago when she visited the market together with the king.

Her pregnancy had been unmistakable and the king had repeatedly touched her belly and smiled proudly.

It was only with difficulty that Fredric, whose presence Niona had no idea, had held back so as not to storm in front of the king and slap the king on the fingers.

"Is it my child?" thought Fredric, when the fruit merchant, of which he was now an assistant, bumped into him. "Don't stand around and dream. Watch you put the plums in their place!"

In silence, Fredric set to work.

Niona held little Richard, to whom her husband had given his name uncontroversially, in his arms and stroked his cheek.

She looked for a resemblance to Fredric, but couldn't find one. The child, however, did not look like her husband in any way.

"He comes after me and my family! He has nothing of his possible fathers," said the young Queen, a little worried. 

On the other hand, there would be no chatter in this way. Eventually, her family was known at the court and you could see who the child was beating.

"If it looked like Fredric, it would be more dangerous," Niona thought, as the little one yawned heartily.

She smiled and pressed a kiss on the little one's forehead, at that moment she didn't care who the father was.

"Definitely it's my child....."" she thought, pointing to the newborn's still sparse hair.

Her thoughts wandered to Fredric. Soon he would surely also learn about the birth of the child. Where was he now? Did he make it into the mountains? Would he ever see little Richard?

"And will I see him again one day?" thought Queen Niona, depressed when a servant took the child from her to put it in a cradle.


	22. Marie and Joris - unfulfilled love?

Marie gave Joris a cautious smile. She liked the young man and despite his magical abilities she could not help but feel comfortable in his presence.

She was sixteen years old and basically led the same life as other adult women in the refugee village. 

She did the same work as the older women, mostly supported by her sister Fleur.

Joris answered Marie's smile and pointed to a bow in his hand. "I want to slay something for dinner! At the moment a lot of deer are on the way, they are looking for pretty deer...."

Marie laughed. "Well, as long as you don't think of me as a deer...."

"Well, if I'm a deer, I have to be afraid. After all, I want to chase them! Would you like to accompany me?" asked Joris, looking at her inquiringly.

Marie nodded, it wasn't the first time they spoke to each other in this way, and it wasn't the first time they went hunting together.

Joris had tried to introduce Marie a little into the art of archery, but so far she has shown no talent or any real interest in it. Weapons frightened her, whether they were used for combat or hunting.

"I think I'm the way you generally imagine a young woman. I only take care of domestic things, refuse to have anything to do with magic, fighting and hunting....," she said with a laugh, and Joris was just shrugging briefly when she mentioned the magic.

A few hours later, Joris had to admit to his shame that he had no luck in the hunt that day.

"The deer and the hares are faster than me," he said to Marie, who smiled at him with regret. 'It's not that bad. You would have almost hit the hare with your arrow. He was at most such a piece," she stretched her arms far from herself," away from the little animal. And then it just hopped on it!"

"Thank you for your understanding," Joris replied with a grin. "Well, you could try it!"

Marie looked at him in horror. "It's almost like you wanted to persuade me to use magic! Me and a bow! That's not what it's like......"

It took Joris a moment to notice that Marie had only allowed herself a little joke with her remark, so he even overheard the remark about magic.

"We should slowly return now, it's starting to get dark and tonight it could even freeze," he suggested with a glimpse of the sky.

It went dark very quickly and the moon appeared over the trees. Large and round, he rose above them and dipped everything into a mysterious light. 

"If it were a little warmer, this would be just the right night to hold hands and exchange kisses," Marie thought, smiling, and she thought.

She reached for Jori's hand, who took note of this with surprise. "I see so little. I almost stumbled upon a root before," she tried to explain her behavior to him, hoping that he would not see her as an intrusive woman from whom he would prefer to flee in the future.

Joris answered her handshake and silently continued their journey home. "He is a magician and uses dangerous and hurtful spells! He could turn me into a bunch of ashes if he wanted to," Marie tried to get a little out of her dreamy mood, but she didn't want to do that with the best of intentions.

She enjoyed this moment too much and was disappointed when the first houses appeared in front of them shortly afterwards.

To Marie's regret, Joris let go of her hand and looked at her a little sadly. "Marie, I know you weren't afraid to fall over a root!"

Why did he have to destroy this beautiful moment? Moreover, Marie feared that he actually thought she was an annoying young woman who pushed herself on him. 

"I.... was really scared of roots," she said quietly, and Joris nodded. "Well, then I'm relieved. It would not be good for both of us if you had really sought a reason to hold my hand. Not that it bothered me. After all, it was only for your protection, so that you do not fall and hurt yourself. But if there was more to it....."

"Of course there is no more behind it, after all, I am someone who rejects magic while you are a convinced magician. I would never allow myself any stupid swarms, if that's what you fear! We are just good friends. And maybe...... not even that!" replied Marie, and she felt anger and sorrow rising in her.

Did Joris have to push her in the head so much after the beautiful evening together? She would have loved to have sat down in her bed afterwards and dreamed for a while. Imaginewhat it would have been like kissing him instead of just holding his hand.

"We are good friends, but no more," Joris replied earnestly, adding: "That alone would not be possible because I am a little too old for you. One of the boys from the village suits you much better. And then there's the magic thing..... no, we should just remain friends! I'm sorry if I kind of gave you some false hopes."

"Yes, I never wanted more. I don't know how you could imagine something like this," Marie whispered, turning away.

At one time, she was in a hurry to get home. Was Joris right in the end? And she had got into something? In fact, she was only sixteen years old and he was a grown man in his mid-twenties. But wouldn't it look different in a few years? Or didn't Joris want to wait so long for her?

Sadly, Marie opened the door to the hut she lived in, quickly undressed and slipped under the duvet. Luckily, there was a pleasant warmth in the house, so that at least she didn't have to freeze externally....

Joris didn't feel very comfortable in his skin either, as he crawled into his bed that evening and pulled the blanket over him. He had never intended to hurt a young girl like Marie. He also knew that young people at this age often dreamed of unfulfillable things and painted a lot in romantic, bright colors.

But the age difference wasn't really the only reason for his behavior. It would not be possible in the long run for Joris to use magic, and this would inevitably lead to difficulties if something were to develop between him and Marie that went beyond friendship.

A few days ago, he had lit a fire with magic. It was just a bonfire, but he had seen the fear in their eyes. He had made a joke and the horror had disappeared a little.

To save a friendship was enough a joke, but what if one day it was about more? 


	23. King Leopold's mission

Fredric put the leftover goods in a basket and placed it on the fruit merchant's car. 

Peter, the dealer, was already sitting on the wagon. "Come on, rise. We're going to my shop now. We are not going to sell anything here today and executions are planned afterwards. Over there, they will send a few poor people to the stake. I don't necessarily have to see that!"

"A lot of people seem to disagree," Fredric said, because a little away from the market stalls that the dealers were already dismantling, an excited crowd was already crowding around two pyres.

"Well, something like this brings variety to her life. I watched an execution like this a few years ago, just out of curiosity, and afterwards I was sick. It's not too handsome. The two are said to be two magicians, a man and a woman!" said Peter, shaking his head. "So it was bad for me afterwards!"

Fredric did not answer, but he got on the wagon next to Peter. 'I don't want to watch it either.'

The horse pulling the cart slowly trotted off when Peter suddenly took the reins. He pointed to a group of soldiers carrying two prisoners in their midst. It was an elderly woman and a very old man who didn't really seem to understand where he was going.

"Are they supposed to be a danger to the king?" asked Peter incredulously, shaking his head.

"Just because they might perform a few little magic tricks, do you execute them? So sometimes I doubt the king's mind and the meaning of some laws! But you shouldn't say that out loud!"

"Exactly, that's why you better have your mouth," one woman scolded. "If the soldiers hear you, then you can probably still make them work. And that probably won't be what you want!"

"No," Peter said softly, looking furiously at the woman. "A wistling goat like you would be much better off there. Definitely better than these poor old people!"

He said the latter even more quietly, and to Fredric's relief, no one but him had listened to it.

After the soldiers and those sentenced to death had passed them, Fredric and Peter made their way back to the vegetable shop. 

One woman laughed. "Do you want to miss all the fun? Such an execution is a change, and the executioner always makes it so that the spectators get their money's worth!"

"Variety? That's what we see here all the time," murmured an old man. "I am almost seventy years old, but I have not seen as many executions as in the last five years in sixty-five years!"

Fredric remained silent and was relieved that Peter, too, was reluctant to make such remarks. He would have preferred to get the horse to run even faster and to leave the city in a curse.

"But then.... I don't see Niona anymore. And my son, if it is mine, not even..... Actually I've never seen him.....", Fredric thought depressedly and Peter bumped into him. 

"You look a little sad. Of course, such an execution is not nice and I don't like to look at it. But still better than us. It's good that we're not magicians, otherwise we could end up like that!"

Niona walked up and down in her bedroom, with little Richard on her arm. The little one had suffered from severe abdominal pain during the night and was only able to calm down during the morning.

"Poor little one," said the young queen, comforting, pressing the infant, who had leaned her head against her shoulder.

The little one kept his eyes closed and made a smouldering sound as the Queen's gaze fell on the child's ear.

She bent the earcup a little to the side. "I've never really noticed that.... they always put on hats, and it's really quite hidden.... but you have a very small mole..... as well as.... Fredric. I discovered it once when I nibbled at his ear.... but no matter..... is it a coincidence?" thought Niona excitedly.

A sign that the little one was descended from Fredric and had inherited something from him, no matter how small?"

"I don't want to draw premature conclusions," Niona thought, pressing a kiss on her child's head.

King Richard held a letter in his hands, and a messenger had given him new instructions from King Leopold. 

"So the king is dissatisfied with me," Richard sighed loudly, and the messenger nodded.

"He wants me to take stronger action against the fugitive magicians! He believes that too many possible enemies have fled to the mountains! I would have been too careless!" cursed Richard, preferring to throw the letter to the ground.

"He still treats me as if I were actually his subject," he raged in silence, but held back with words, after all, he did not know what the messenger, waiting for an answer, would tell the king of the neighboring country, to whom, although Richard gladly forgot, the actual ruler of Runien, would report.

"He should not doubt my loyalty and loyalty," Richard thought, giving the messenger a friendly smile.

"Tell your king, the great Leopold, that I will of course take more action against the pack in the mountains! So far, fortunately, they have been quite calm, but that does not mean that we will! I have now cleaned up with the magicians in my capital and most of the country, only today I have given two of them their just punishment. Now I will dedicate myself to the refugees, they will not weigh themselves in false security for long...."

The messenger bowed, but could not resist a mocking smile. "King Leopold knew that your answer would be like this. And he also knew that he must first remind you of your duties and that you would not have thought of having acted against the refugees...."

King Richard shrugged, but swallowed the angry remark he had on his lips, after all, he did not want to draw the wrath of Leopold. 


	24. The fight breaks out, part I

Two months had passed since the day that Joris and Marie had come a little closer in the forest.

Since then, Marie has been out of the way of the young man as best she could, which almost led to an argument with her sister Fleur.

"I know you don't want to have anything to do with magic and magicians, but I thought at least the latter you wouldn't think of as monsters anymore! I think it's common that you get so out of the way of Joris! Is it because he magically lit a campfire the other day?" Fleur had reproachfully asked the sister, but Marie had given her no answer. "I have my reasons!"

"Our father really did a lot of work with you! You're making a friendship for yourself, all for such stupid reasons!" Fleur accused her older sister, looking at her contemptuously and furiously at the same time, but Marie remained silent.

What would it have been for her little sister to tell her that there were other reasons why she got out of the way of Joris? 

She was ashamed, afraid of being ridiculed, and desperately hoped that Joris would one day forget this incident.

"Then we could talk to each other again without feeling like I had behaved like a stupid chicken every time!"

It took a few days before the two sisters reconciled, although Fleur didn't always hold back with comments about her sister basically getting in her own way.

Fleur and Marie continued their work that day, when they saw one of the men who had been keeping watch running excitedly into Bran's hut. The man's face was sweaty, apparently he had run another distance.

"What's going on? Are new refugees coming?" asks Fleur quietly, moving a little closer to her sister.

Marie shrugged. "I hope that it's really just refugees, but usually the guards don't get so upset about it! Maybe there are a lot of them?"

George, the guard, entered Bran's hut. He was sitting with Sarina at breakfast. They both laughed, but Bran's face immediately became serious when the man looked at him out of breath.

"What's going on, George? You ran! Are we expecting new refugees?" asked Bran, but George shook his head. "No, not refugees, but soldiers, much more than usual! They are looking for us, I am sure! They are still a long way from us, but..."

Bran jumped up and reached for his sword, which was leaning against the wall next to the door.

Sarina looked after her husband anxiously as the guard followed him. "I was afraid that one day it would come," she thought, depressed. "I was always afraid of it. I hope it won't get too bad.'

Bran, Norian, Dario, as well as some magicians and several former soldiers set out to confront the possible enemies who were in danger.

"Where are they going?" Asked Fleur her sister. "What's going on?"

"Dario said that soldiers were on their way here," they heard the voice of Princess Mary, who, holding a narrow sword in her hand, had stepped behind the two. 

"It should be much more than usual and they fear that they are looking for us. That would not be unusual in itself. But not so many...."

"Will there be a fight?" Fleur asked anxiously, and at one point it seemed to get colder, even though the sun was still shining from the sky.

"Joris goes with them," Marie muttered softly, preferring to be alone.

Norian, Dario, Joris and Bran watched the soldiers as they fought their way up the narrow path. 

Bran had taken only three companions with him, but instructed his other people to stay within call range should there be a fight.

"There is not too much space there, the path is narrow, we can perhaps stop it!"

Bran gave the others a wink to follow him. Quietly, they sneaked closer to the soldiers.

"Should I try to drive them away by a fire?" asked Joris quietly. "I could light this fallen tree trunk that lies in the middle of the road...."

Bran nodded. "That's a good idea! They haven't discovered our village yet. They already know that we are in the area, after all, we have had to deal with soldiers more often, although never with so many.... there are more, George told me...."

Joris focused on the tree trunk. The next moment it flared up and shortly afterwards he was on fire. 

"I let the flames flicker a little higher," Joris said, and the soldiers who had previously climbed the path swiped a few steps back.

"These cursed magicians are nearby!" shouted one of the soldiers. "But we will not be driven away by them!"

Bran grabbed the arm of his stepson Norian when they saw that not all the soldiers could be stopped by the fire, another squad, consisting of about thirty men, stormed along the path and at one time the flames were extinguished...."

"This hypocrite of King uses magicians himself," Bran cursed, as an arrow next to him got stuck in the ground.....

**I know a nasty place to stop. But soon it will continue.....**


	25. The fight breaks out, Part II

Bran and his people withdrew a bit as the soldiers approached.

"We have to stop them here, on the rocks! That's where the path is narrowest and they're not going to pass, no matter how much magic they use," Bran said angrily, turning to Dario. "Go over there with Norian, Joris stays here with me....."

Norian, Dario and a handful of men approached the squad of soldiers.

"Can you make the swords that they hold in their hands glow? If they let them go temporarily, we might be able to overwhelm them and it could give us an advantage," Bran Joris whispered softly as they watched the others.

"That should be possible.... No fire, but only a glow," Joris muttered, staring at the swords held in the hands of the soldiers approaching.

The next moment they glowed and Joris almost felt a childlike joy when the enemy soldiers screamed and dropped the weapons. Norian looked over his shoulder and seemed just as pleased.

"Well done," Bran muttered approvingly. "But I'm afraid there will be a magical attack from the other side....

In fact, a fire broke out the next moment when two trees went up in flames.

"But they cut their way off themselves," Bran said, and it sounded almost triumphant as they pulled the soldiers back.

But then the fire went out again....

"We need to eliminate the opposing magicians," Bran said. "Even though they may be forced to work for Richard and the soldiers.... we have to get them to either run over to us or we have to...."

Joris was glad that he did not have to make such a decision. He didn't like the idea of killing the enemy magicians, who might have been forced to fight on the other side.

And it was obvious that Bran, too, was far from happy about it.

Fredric healed the burn on the hand of one of the enemy soldiers, who pulled his hand away.

"You're a magician," the man said, giving Fredric a slight jolt. "Go to the other miscarriages and wait for further instructions. Surely there will soon be more wounds to heal!"

Fredric joined the other magicians who had healing abilities.

"It is a pity that none of us here is able to act in fire magic. Or another spell....." he thought bitterly, as one of the soldiers gave him a shock. 

"Be glad you're still alive. The king needed you, for which you should be grateful to him."

He grinned. "But when this whole thing is settled here, it will probably look very different very soon! And brave as he is, he even takes part in the attack himself. The brave Richard..."

"The brave Richard stays in a well-guarded camp for about an hour from here," Fredric thought mockingly.

"He does not want to be cowardly in front of King Leopold, so he has at least decided to accompany his people in order to be able to boast about a victory afterwards. Of course, he will not put himself in danger!"

Fredric felt more than uncomfortable in his current situation. However, this attack and fight against the refugees hiding in the mountains was probably the only way out for him to stay alive, at least temporarily....

He recalled the event that had put him in this situation. Someone he liked and trusted had turned out to be a traitor, and Fredric wondered who he could trust.

_A few weeks earlier, the young magician and Peter had once again lifted some heavy boxes from the car to open the stall on the market, but then a squad of soldiers had come by, apparently looking for a magician who was hiding somewhere._

_One of the men laughed when he saw Peter, who struggled with a heavy box, and gave him an untoward thrust into his back._

_Peter fell to the ground and the box landed uncomfortably on his leg._

_"At your age you shouldn't wear so hard!" the soldier laughed, before riding on with his comrades._

_Peter, moaning, with Fredric's help, pushed the heavy box away from his leg and tried to get up._

_He slumped again with a pain-distorted face. "I'm afraid it's broken.....," he said, unsettled. "It hurts so much...."_

_Meanwhile, other traders had rushed in. "It is always the same with the king's soldiers. They're just horrible. At the moment they are hunting magicians again, but not to kill them, but they need them for some fight..." said a young woman shaking her head._

_"But is that perhaps a reason to attack and hurt honorable people?" another woman asked, shaking her head._

_Fredric, meanwhile, bent down to Peter. "Is it possible?"_

_The old man shook his head. "No, it's not possible...... could you bring me home? I'm afraid today the sale has to fail..... it's a pity for the nice money...."_

_A few hours later, Peter lay in bed with severe pain and fever. A doctor had been there, but had not been able to do too much._

_"We just have to wait and see if the bone grows together. I mainly understand the pulling of teeth, unfortunately I have no idea about the bone rails," the doctor had said, leaving Peter only a few tea bags, which, poured in to a drink, were supposed to help against the pain._

_Fredric looked at the old man with pity and he made a decision. "I.... can help you.... but it's actually forbidden!"_

_"What are you going to do?" Peter asked laboriously, and Fredric put his hands on the injured leg and focused on the wound...._

_Shortly afterwards, Peter sat upright in bed, carefully moving his leg._

_"You..... have used magic to heal this. You're a magician? But this is dangerous..... if you are found here with me. Nothing against you, Fredric. You are diligent and have helped me. But....."_

_"I already understood, Peter. Let me at least stay here that night, tomorrow I will leave!" the young magician asked sadly. "That's just the way it is every time...."_

_Fredric lay down to rest, but it wasn't until the morning that he finally fell asleep – and was awakened by three soldiers, who roughly pulled him out of bed._

_"A magician! It's good that the old man told us. He probably didn't want to get in trouble if it comes out..."_

_Peter stood in the corner of the room with his eyes lowered. "Sorry, Fredric. But I.... had to think of myself. It is forbidden to hide a magician with you. Even if you wanted to leave, one day it might have come out......"_

_It was more than obvious that the old man felt anything but comfortable in his skin. A soldier gave Fredric a rough shot._

_"Be glad that the king needs magicians at the moment. You have healing skills? Very good. We may need that if there is a fight. The end just justifies the means...."_

Fredric healed the arm wound of a soldier who looked at him gratefully. "Thank you very much. Actually, you shouldn't do something like that..... but it really helped. By the way, I'm sorry for you and the other magicians..."

"Forget it. If you can't or don't want to help me escape, I can do without your compassion!" Fredric replied bitterly.

He would have liked to have stormed away, together with the other magicians, and would have joined the people in the mountains......

"But now we are their enemies, even if we are not at all!" he thought, while a trembling young woman next to him was close to tears.

"What will they do with us when they no longer need us? And if they don't kill us, the others will...." 


	26. The fight breaks out, part III

While Fredric was a little discouraged with his situation, there had been a fight between the soldiers and Bran's people. The refugees had managed to beat back their opponents and they were already looking to withdraw when another magical blow was struck against them.

At one time, Bran's people's clothes and hair were on fire and they threw themselves on the ground to extinguish the fire. 

Bran's clothes also burned, and he realized that Norian was no better off. He ripped off a cape and threw him to the ground, fortunately his other clothes had not caught a fire and so he could come to Bran's aid.

Bran saw, while Norian threw earth at his clothes, someone rushed to his side from the corners of his eyes and felt a blow to the head the next moment.

His senses faded and around him it became dark.

Dario and Linus were also suddenly surrounded by several soldiers, while they had struggled to extinguish the flames on their capes.

"Who do we have?" one of the soldiers asked. "You will come with us!"

Dario pulled out a knife and tried to fight the soldiers, but three other men rushed at him and pushed him to the ground. 

"I know him! This is.... Dario. He once served with the soldiers, but then, probably to cover up his magical abilities, joined this pack here!"

"Something like this!" one of the other soldiers said, grinning broadly at one time, leaving a series of rotten teeth to appear. "I hope they get their just punishment directly..... and wasn't he even after the little princess?"

"Yes, he was. I remember that well. But not even the old king wanted him in the family. Doesn't the little princess live in the mountains?" one of his comrades replied, laughing as if he had just made a very good joke.

"Not long after we get our hands on them, let's take it for a long time! The king certainly has nothing against it!" the other soldier laughed.

"Leave my wife alone!" muttered Dario, but remained silent when he got a kick in the side. "Your wife? That sounds very interesting! That will be very interesting to the king!" the soldier grinned mockingly.

Norian bent over Bran and tried to lift him up as the soldiers surrounded him.

"If this is not the king's bastard!" said a bearded man whose hair has already been crossed by grey strands. 

"I know him from the past. A terrible bengel. And it hasn't exactly changed to his advantage."

Norian wanted to reciprocate, but then saw from the corners of his eyes that someone was hitting him with a sword.

The next moment, the world around him seemed to be on fire, and severe pain drove through his head before it got dark and he no longer felt him collapse.

Fredric looked at the unconscious people who had been thrown at his feet and the other magicians. 

"Take care of them. But not in a way that they wake up. In their present state, we can better bring them to the king," the instruction sounded from the mouth of a captain.

Fredric bent over a young man who had to be about his age.

"Take good care of him, this is Norian, the bastard of the former king!" he was urged.

Fredric did not respond to this remark, but some of his hopes that perhaps everything would still go well for him and the other magicians faded. His gaze fell on the other unconscious prisoners. They were sorry for him, certainly they would not fare much better than him and his involuntary comrades.

"We still need them at least temporarily.... but I fear that there will not be too much hope for Norian and the others!"

Joris and some of the other magicians had watched as they took their leader, as well as the king's son and some of their comrades. 

"That's the worst thing that could happen to us," Joris thought angrily, addressing the other magicians standing in the midst of armed men. 

"We have to follow them and try to do something for them!" said Joris as calmly as possible, even if he would have preferred to shake his comrades.

"But how? This is almost impossible and it would be pure suicide!" shouted one of the men, unsettled and approving.

"But he's right," the magician received at least partial approval to his relief.

By now the sun had sunk and the soldiers were ready to return to the king's camp with their captives. They were expecting a reward, or even promotion, by King Richard.

Relieved that the fight was now over, the soldiers turned to their prisoners, some of them still unconscious. "We're taking them with us now... hopefully there will be no more attack... Or? And what do we do with our magicians? Kill? The king will surely command that soon!"

"If we do nothing, we will die. Perhaps their allies will soon attack us and kill us with the soldiers if we don't side with them!" Fredric said, with a hint of despair half-loud to a young woman crouching by his side.

A scream rang out and one of their guards, who slapped Fredric for his words, fell to the ground in front of him, hit by an arrow protruding from his back.

"Let's go. they have to help!" cried Fredric, raising the unconscious Norian half up before launching a healing attempt and taking care of the head injury.

Fredric did not have too much time to treat the injured, because the next moment two more soldiers with burning clothes fell to the ground and he knew that a magical attack was taking place.

"We want to help you! Your people are here!" cried Fredric, and one of the other healers rushed to his side.

Together, they carried Norian away, while a group of gunmen stormed in and their guards engaged in a fight.

In the general hustle and bustle, Joris saw two men carrying the unconscious Norian on him. Almost relieved, the young magician took note.

"Luckily, he is still alive.... I hope at least. But now we have to find Bran and Dario. Where are they?" he thought, feeling something was drilling between his ribs.

To his horror, he saw an arrow protruding from his belly, and he pulled on it. This caused pain and Joris held on to a tree.

He saw men jumping on horses and riding away, some of whom had previously placed unconscious on the backs of the horses like wet bags. Fleetingly, Joris believed to recognize Bran in one of them....

He staggered to the side and finally, clutching the arrow, slammed into two dead enemy soldiers....

Unsettled, Fleur and Marie exchanged news about the outcome of the fight. Apparently there had been some losses, some of their people had been taken into captivity. But they were able to beat back the attack in the end.

"Where is Joris?" Marie asked, uneasy, looking around. "I can't see him anywhere.... Hopefully he's not with the prisoners... or dead!"

"He's going to be somewhere....," Fleur tried to reassure her sister as best she could, even if she thought it was possible that the young man, who was swarming by Marie, had not returned....

Now they saw that two men supported Norian and accompanied him to the hut he inhabited. "At least he came back," Fleur said with a hint of relief.

Even some magicians, who had fought rather involuntarily on the side of Richard's men, had taken the opportunity to escape and would now provide reinforcements in the mountains.

But they had lost their leader Bran.

Mary listened in stunned to what her half-brother Norian, who had been laid on his bed, had to tell her.

About an hour ago, the men who had left to defend the refuge had returned.

Norian recovered quite well from his injury, thanks to the art of healers. "They took some prisoners with them, including Bran and Dario!" he said, looking at his sister apologizing. "I'm sorry. I hope they learn that he is now married to you. Then.... may leave him alone...."

Mary shook her head. "Richard wouldn't even spare his own siblings, and a hated brother-in-law wouldn't...."

Sarina, too, sat at her son's bedside and had been silent until now. The news of her husband Bran's captivity didn't seem to have really penetrated her yet. Mary compassionately pressed her hand.

"We will do something...... somehow we will help them.... so it must not end!"


	27. Marie's decision

Marie shook her head and wiped away the tears running down her cheeks. She only held back with difficulty, she would have liked to have sobbed loudly. The events of the last few hours had upset her too much.

Of course, she worried about the fate of Bran and the others. Were they not prisoners of the king? Above all, however, their thoughts wandered again and again to Joris. What had happened to him?

"Marie.... we should perhaps go to the hut now and rest a little. I helped the healers as best I could..... but now I am exhausted and they said that I should also rest a little. This also applies to you!" said Fleur softly, putting her hand on her older sister's shoulder.

"Joris..... he's dead!" Marie told the other of her worst fears. "He's dead and we.... have hardly spoken to each other in recent times! I won't see him again!"

Fleur did not know how to comfort her sister, too much had been shaken by what she had experienced. 

Were they still safe in the mountains? Would they have to leave? But where should they turn? They had built up so much. Should they give it all up?

Anger spread into her. She didn't want to lose her home again. 

"This king makes life difficult for all of us. This crap guy has already expelled Marie and me and maybe my father would never have rejected me so much without his laws!"

She knew that even before King Richard's accession to the throne, her father had thought and judged badly about magicians. Nevertheless, the king's laws had exacerbated their situation.

Marie sobbed briefly, she couldn't hold back. 

But then she wiped her tears again and resolutely wiped her tears from her face. "I have to look for Joris. Maybe.... I find him."

Fleur shook his head. "This is far too dangerous. You can't wander around in the woods now. Maybe he's with the prisoners, maybe he's already dead.... maybe he wanders around and is injured. But you can't run alone."

  
Marie looked to the ground, but then she raised her head and looked at her sister firmly. "I will now look for Joris. And when I run into the arms of the king's soldiers, that is how it should be. I will, of course, be careful. But.... it must... be!"

Her younger sister hesitated for a moment, but then she saw the determined expression of the others' faces. So she basically didn't know Marie at all, it was the first time she experienced her like that. 

"So you're really serious! Then I come with you. Together we will surely find Joris!"

Marie looked gratefully at her younger sister. "I'm glad you're accompanying me. But you know you'd be safer here?"

Fleur nodded, but then reached for her sister's hand. "I come with you. I won't let you wander around alone in the forest!"

Joris had leaned against a tree trunk and held his hand on his wound. He regretted not having healing abilities. 

His own magical powers would not have been useless. At least one fire could have ignited him to dispel the cold of the night. However, he feared betraying himself by the light.

Certainly, Richard's men were still searching the area. But he was determined not to get into captivity and somehow make it back to the village.

"Hopeful village we have sometimes called our refuge.... but now there is not too much hope, at least not for me," he thought, writhing together.

He became black in front of his eyes and for a moment he felt as if he had to surrender.

Another wave of pain drove through his body and he knew that he would probably not make the way to the village any more....

Joris sank into a restless sleep, in which he relived the experiences of the last hours. He knew that there was basically no salvation for Bran and the other prisoners. They couldn't do anything for them. And he certainly wasn't able to do that anymore. The fact that he had not been captured was only because his enemies thought he was dead. Soon he would actually be....

"The others have to come up with something if they want to save Bran and the other prisoners..." he thought, recalling Marie.

Lately, they hadn't been too friendly with each other and he was sorry. Even if they couldn't be a couple, they could and should have behaved differently.

"Sorry, Marie...," Joris muttered as he heard steps slowly and cautiously approaching.

Were these Richards soldiers? Well, he would give them a fiery reception. At least you wouldn't drag him to the king.....

"Joris?" he heard a familiar voice at one point, and then he thought he was dreaming. It had to be a dream that Marie sat next to him and looked at him anxiously.

"Marie?" he asked in a powerless voice, closing his eyes. Maybe it was best, a beautiful appearance at the end...

Marie looked uncertainly at the injured man and helped him to sit back. Her sister was very close, they had separated shortly before, because the younger one wanted to search a small cave.

"She will be right here.... but Joris is not doing well..... what can I do?" she thought, seeing the blood on his stomach.

Marie pushed the injured man's shirt aside and stared at a wound from which blood was seeping out. Jori's face was pale and she gently stroked his forehead. "I.... can't wait for Fleur. But.... I can't either..... but I must!" she thought, and for the second time that day she showed a certain determination.

She put her hand on Jori's wound and imagined how it closed. She had done such a healing very rarely before, never in a human being. She forgot that she had previously considered this wrong....

Fleur rushed towards her sister and Joris. Exhausted, Marie looked at her, while Joris opened her eyes and looked around in amazement.

He grabbed his belly and looked at the sisters inquiringly. He didn't seem to know why they were with him.

"What about mine...... Wound? She's gone....," he inquired, and Fleur looked at her sister inquiringly. "You did that?"

Marie nodded. "Yes, I did.... and I don't know if it was wrong. Or right...."

"It was the right thing to do," Fleur said. "Of course it was! If you hadn't done anything, it would have been worse...."

Marie gave First Fleur, then Joris an uncertain smile, before she dared to make a faint joke. "But don't tell my father...". 


	28. The bitter end.....

King Richard was more than satisfied. Although some magicians had escaped him, he would punish the men who had not given enough attention to them. However, the fugitive magicians were small fish that were not worth tracking with too much effort. Sooner or later, however, they would find their deserved end in his dungeon, and he himself would soon return to his wife and son, little Richard.

It was possible to capture Bran, the leader of his enemies. The same was true for Dario, who had turned out to be his brother-in-law. 

"Brother-in-law!" thought Richard contemptuously. "As if this worm belonged to my family! 

"Bring me the leader of this pack and the... Husband of my sister! I'll get along a little bit with them.... Richard instructed his people, three soldiers who had gathered with him. 

"And get rid of the other prisoners! We will return to the capital and then deal with them there! Such a success will surely satisfy King Leopold!"

"Shouldn't we try to conquer the village in the mountains? Maybe we will not be able to do it again later!" one of the soldiers dared to contradict. King Richard cast an unrepenvated glance at him. "Do you doubt my wisdom?"

The soldier lowered his gaze. He knew it was better not to upset King Richard unnecessarily. "I will immediately pass on the order to leave," he said, rushing out of the king's tent.

Shortly afterwards, Bran and Dario were thrust into the king's tent. Four soldiers accompanied them and pushed them to the ground.

"On your knees, this is your king!" the two prisoners were unapologetised. "Show respect to your ruler!"

Richard noticed that his captors would have preferred to spit in his face. He pulled out and punched the elder of the two in the face.

"So you're Bran... my father's former bodyguard. I remember you very well.... a terrible man!"

"Not as horrible as you, my king!" said Bran mockingly, which earned him another slap in the face.

"Don't play the brave man, because I see that you are actually trembling with fear! The same goes for you, my so-called brother-in-law!" said Richard, turning to Dario. "

So you actually dared to marry my sister Maria! Why? Do you hope to get to my crown in this way? Well, then I have to disappoint you! This will never happen!"

Richard laughed briefly contemptuously before telling his prisoner, grinning, "You won't see her again...."

A few days later, Richard and his soldiers reached the capital of Arunia. 

The inhabitants stared pityingly at the prisoners who were led through the city, in order to make them disappear in prison until their execution. With their heads lowered and their eyes unsettled, they stumbled past the crowd.

No one expected the king to be gracious to the prisoners in any way, the possibility of humiliating them again in public before they died, he would not be taken away.

"I'm sorry for the poor," muttered an old woman standing next to Peter, the fruit merchant with whom Fredric had worked for a while.

"Not so loud," he whispered. "They should not be made aware of us. I've been watching a little bit more since I found a magician. I have to be careful!"

"You mean this poor guy you betrayed after he healed your broken leg," the old woman said mockingly and contemptuously. 

"So if he had known that, he would certainly have let you go on crutches for a few months! You deserved it!"

When a suspicious view of the two of them fell on them, they remained silent in horror and looked to the ground. "You did something! I hope they didn't hear us!" complained Peter anxiously, and saw himself already in jail.

But the two elderly people should be far more fortunate than most of the prisoners executed in the days that followed. 

Many residents of the capital watched, while Queen Niona, to her relief, realized that Fredric was not among them.

Richard, on the other hand, sat contentedly at his evening table and had a servant give him a cup of wine while the Queen sat next to him.

"What's going on, Niona?" the king inquired a little antagonized, as Niona poked around in her food. 

"Don't waste your time with false pity! These criminals didn't deserve it any other way and they were a constant nuisance. Tomorrow my so-called brother-in-law and the leader of this pack, Bran, will follow, and then there will finally be peace."

Niona remained silent and stared at her plate, but Richard misinterpreted her silence. "Are you worried? Do you think we've just caught the tip of the iceberg? After all, some of these magicians are still in freedom. But don't worry about that! You don't understand that anyway."

"No, certainly not!" niona muttered, rising. "Please excuse me. I.... I want to lie down a little earlier today. I don't feel so comfortable!"

Richard laughed. "Of course, rest! It would be a great pity if you were not present at the execution of Maria's would-be husband and the leader of the rebel pack! We both don't want to miss that, don't we?"

However, Niona knew that she wouldn't feel much more comfortable the next day. In no way did she want to watch another execution....

"At least Fredric escaped and was safe," she thought, relieved. She had hardly experienced a quiet moment after learning that her son's father was with the captive magicians who had to accompany the king. 

At least that burden fell off her now... 


	29. The end of the rebels?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will be rather sad, just as a small warning in advance. But the story is not over....

The next day, surrounded by his bodyguards, Richard sat on his horse and followed the execution, which he hoped would end a very unpleasant chapter of his reign.

Bran and Dario would take their last breath in a few moments, and the last prisoners would no longer be charged. Richard would have liked to have shouted a few mocking words to the two prisoners, but he held back. Was he not king of Runien and had to behave like a ruler? He could not throw like a little boy with rotten fruit after the convicts.

The absence of his wife Niona annoyed the king, she had apologized with severe headaches, but he really did not want to believe it.

"You didn't like the last executions! It is too gentle when it comes to such things..... but maybe women are like that....," Richard thought, and his smile returned. 

Maybe Niona was expecting a child again and didn't feel so comfortable? 

"Then, of course, she apologizes! She should not be upset about anything, another possible heir to the throne is going ahead... Little Richard could also be hit by something!" thought the king with a fleeting smile.

This thought frightened him, he had closed his young son in his heart and he wanted to protect him at all costs. "For him, too, I'm putting an end to this pack of magicians and rebels. He shall inherit a kingdom in which peace and quiet reign!" thought the king, raising his hand.

"Start the execution!"

The two prisoners, Dario and Bran, were led to a gallows and snares were placed around their necks. A roar went through the crowd and King Richard looked around angrily and gave the executioner a wink to continue his work.

"I could have imagined a slower way of death! My executioner is disappointed because of this, but he was already allowed to do his work to the heart's content on the other prisoner!" recalled Richard, even if his wife's executions were struck by his mind and appetite.

"Some last words?" the executioner asked the two candidates for death. 

"One last insult that will soon get stuck in your throat?"

Richard laughed at this macabre joke, while the crowd watching the spectacle was mostly nervous, while some grinned and shouted some sneering remarks toward the two prisoners.

Richard came to the conclusion that some of the inhabitants welcomed the spectacle....

The two prisoners remained silent and Richard almost regretted that they did not insult him before their death. In that case, he might have aggravated the sentence. Or be gracious and leave it at the sentence already imposed....

The executioner pushed the stools on which the two prisoners stood away and the crowd remained silent. Some who had laughed before looked to the ground, while a little cheering erupted. 

Were they his people who had mixed among the crowd? This was quite possible, but the king did not want to think about it. Basically, the inhabitants of the city were very happy to listen to such events. Some appeared ostensibly only because he had ordered the presence of the people, but some certainly agreed with his way of dealing with his enemies....

No, Richard didn't want to convince himself that in the end people still had pity for the two hanged ones, who had died quite quickly.

Instead, he raised his voice and pushed the bodyguards to the side with a movement of his hands.

"Now the last enemies we were able to capture have received their just punishment! Let us hope that peace and quiet will return to Arunia!"

The next day, the remains of the executed were quietly buried in a cemetery outside the city. 

The inhabitants did not venture there, after all, the dead were convicted criminals and the fear that one of them might come out of the grave and take revenge was too great....

The three gravediggers finished their work and looked up to the sky as a strong wind came up.

"That's storm," said one of them. "Good that we are already finished with the work."

"Yes, fortunately! In such weather, such cemeteries are certainly going to be scary things! And some of them are magicians buried here. Who knows if they still master some magic tricks with which they could harm us!" the second gravedigger said, as he patted the earth smoothly on the freshly shoveled grave with his spade. 

The third clay grave was silent, he did not like his profession very much, some of those buried here were sorry for him. 

"One should proceed to burn the remains and scatter the ashes...."

His comrade slapped him on the shoulder and laughed. "Then we would be unemployed, we don't want that!"

"As long as this Richard king we have enough work!" the second gravedigger said grimly. "We don't need to worry about our livelihood! In this respect, we should not complain.

The three gravediggers left the cemetery, while the rising storm blew away a few earthcrumbs from the freshly shoveled grave.... 


	30. Grief

Two weeks after the last execution, to which Bran and Dario were killed, the families and friends in the mountains learned of the sad events.

Sarina sat in her hut stunned and did not want to see anyone, not even her son let her in.

"Mother.... please get up!" asked Norian for the third time that day, and finally Sarina got through to an answer. She rose from her chair, sitting at the table and staring at a bracelet Bran had given her not too long ago.

With the jewel in her hand, she opened the door and freed herself from her son's embrace as he placed his arms around her.

She feared collapsing if he stayed even longer and pushed her... but that didn't help Bran.... nothing could help him any more. But wouldn't he expect her to stay strong? She herself wanted it, too.

Unfortunately, her son couldn't be shaken off or sent away. "Please let me come in!" asked Norian softly, brushing over his mother's hair. She shook her head. "No.... I want to.... stay alone..."

Norian did not respond to her words, and so Sarina eventually gave in and took a step to the side. 

"Good, but..... I don't want to talk.... and there are so many other things we need to think about! We've pushed it before... but who shall become our leader? You? Or Mary? How is the poor doing in the first place? She must be behaved, after all, she has just lost her husband!"

"You too!" said Norian softly, and his mother remained silent. 

Sadly, they looked at each other as Sarina sat down on her bed and continued to fight back tears. "There's no time for that," she muttered, as she reached for a cloth and wiped her eyes.

Norian, on the other hand, did not want to be satisfied with this, and he did not seem to like how much his mother tried to suppress her feelings and her grief.

"Bran wouldn't want that! He would tell you to take your time.... Time to mourn and also time to cry!"

Now Sarina could no longer hold back her tears and she leaned her head against the shoulder of her son, who also revelled in sad memories. HadN't Bran been something of a surrogate for him? As a child, he had sometimes wished that Bran was his father instead of the king, but unfortunately that was not the case.

Mary was even less accessible than Sarina. Her friends and her brother knocked on her door in vain, but instead she left her hut, where she had lived with Dario for so long, and went into the nearby forest.

There she could finally be alone with her thoughts. She knew that others were worried about her and wanted to comfort her, but she was determined to cope with her grief in her own way. No one could help her. Not even the most capable magicians would have been able to call their husband back to life. He was gone, forever.

She and Dario had had it so hard, they had almost given up hope of ever living together or even getting married. 

"I always thought that Richard's reign had at least one good thing.... we could be together!" the young woman thought, depressed.

Now all she had left was her memories. They hadn't even had a child, even though she wanted it. Nothing had been left of her husband....

The days after the execution, Richard had spent the best of his life. Although he had learned to regret that his wife was not expecting a second child, this had not been able to tarnish his good mood. 

He was more than a little satisfied with himself. Hadn't he just won a big victory?

Immediately upon his return, Richard had sent a messenger with a message to King Leopold to tell him about it. Surely the king, who, to Richard's secret anger, was still the ruler of Runien, would be satisfied with him, and confidence in Richard's abilities would grow.

He was therefore pleased to see the returning messenger, who presented him with a message from the other ruler with a grin that Richard could not assign. 

"King Leopold sends you his greetings....," the man quipbefore, before Richard sent him out.

He began to roll the scroll apart and should soon regret it. He would have liked to have thrown her furiously into a corner....

"I would be an incompetent king? I won," Richard thought angrily, and began to walk up and down the room with writing in his hand. Two servants who were to enter the room watched as they left as the king continued to rage. Nobody wanted to run over him in such a situation.

"What does this mean? Should I have continued to invade the mountains and also eliminate the last risk and my last enemies? I would have been satisfied with the half and opened the door to further difficulties? I should have gotten more information from Bran and Dario when they were still alive?"

Angry, Richard followed his impulse and hurled the scroll against the wall, where it fell to the ground. 

"I am not an incompetent king! And what trouble is this intimidated pack in the mountains going to make now? But King Leopold reproaches me for not completely destroying my enemies...."

Richard sat in a chair and stared furiously at the scroll lying on the floor. "I am the king of Arunia, not him! He has no right to reproach me or threaten me that I did not act in his favour and could one day regret it! Leopold is outrageous! I'd love to fight him...."..."

Richard remained silent in shock, hoping that no one had heard these words. He thought of his father's fate and grabbed his neck. Under no circumstances did he want to lose his head and he decided to write a letter apologizing to the king of the neighbouring country for his mistake, which was made not to him but to his advisers..... 


	31. New leaders and a new strategy

Princess Maria and her half-brother Norian sat in their hut with Sarina, some of her people had joined them.

"We have to make some decisions!" Norian began the conversation. "We need to elect a new leader and discuss how we will proceed now. We have strengthened our guards and fortunately Richard's people have not managed to get into our village. But next time we may not be so lucky. That's why it's important to prepare our defense."

"Or our attack," Mary interjeshesed in earnest. Outwardly, she seemed completely calm, but Norian, standing right next to her, noticed that she had clenched a hand to the fast and her ankles stood out white.

Sarina nodded approvingly to the young woman. "You're right! We must finally take the initiative. So far we have been hiding in the mountains and we would have been happy to live here in peace. But we are not left with this peace, but are hunting for us instead."

"That's what I mean," Mary replied. "Well, next time the first blow should come from us and we shouldn't just wait for Richard's soldiers. We should also consider whether he is entitled to the crown of the kings of Arunia at all! Each of us would be better suited as ruler! So far, no one has seriously sought to wage war against him. But that could have been a mistake!"

Norian didn't know if this was the right attitude. Did the anger and grief of his half-sister and his mother speak? He understood them very well, at first, especially immediately after Bran's death, this proposal could have come from him, too, in order to avenge the man who had been almost a father to him and the others. 

Dario had been a good friend to him, but it wasn't important to stay calm and not rush anything?

"We need to rethink everything. We can't storm off and get into a fight!" he said, but Mary didn't want to hear about it.

"We hid long enough. And also the people of Arunien, who do not live with us in the mountains, suffer under Richard."

"You're right!" Norian finally gave in, sighing, to his half-sister's arguments. 

They could not stay in the mountains and wait for a possible next attack. They had to do something themselves, Richard might even come before.

But this was difficult and almost an impossibility. 

Norian shook his head and muttered softly: "Then we have to make it possible. And hope that some of the inhabitants of Arunia will join us!"

Marie and her sister Fleur sat in front of the fire and warmed their hands. "What do you think of our new two leaders? I think it's a good idea for Norian and Maria to share the lead!"

"Yes, one is hot-blooded and wants revenge, but she enjoys many symphaties and a daughter of King Marius may join some. Norian, on the other hand, takes a more thoughtful approach and may be able to slow them down," Fleur said thoughtfully. "But the princess has changed so much. Before Dario's death, she was not so bitter. I hope she does nothing stupid or reckless. That's what the older healers say. They're worried about it.'

Marie nodded in silence, knowing that all her life would soon change again. But would it improve?

A month later, Richard realized that King Leopold's fears, which he had communicated to him in his last letter, were in danger of becoming true. 

Angry, he received the news of a distraught soldier that he and his people had been the victim of a robbery.

"We should guard the area in the mountains. No one in and no one left out...," the man stammered, distraught.

Richard drummed his fingers on the backs of his throne. He stood on a high ground, and he usually enjoyed looking down at the supplicants kneeling in front of him. He had had the throne room specially rebuilt, and while his father had always sat at the table and received his messages there, this was changed immediately with Richard's ascension to the throne.

The people, especially petitioners, whose requests were rarely granted, should know who the Lord of Arunien was, and therefore he sat as a legitimate ruler always elevated.

Ordinary messengers were also received in this way, only among the men who visited him on behalf of King Leopold he did not dare to put them in such a humble situation.

"I know for myself what orders I gave!" Richard hissed ananely at the man, and he shrugged nervously. 

"I myself gave the order to guard the surroundings. No one should be able to join these rats in the mountains any more, and at some point we will find them in their hiding place...."

"They are no longer hiding!" the soldier stammered with a trembling voice. "They attacked us, out of ambush... some of my comrades are no longer alive...."

"You're still alive!" said Richard in a bad mood. "Did they keep you alive?"

"Yes....," the man replied, looking around for an escape route, while Richard looked at him thoughtfully. 

It almost seemed as if he had to think about what was said. "So they attacked you and left you alive.... why?"

The man was visibly struggling for words." So that I can tell you the news of Princess Mary and Norian, her brother.... the two leaders of this.... People....,"

"Rats!" Richar

"Well, so that I can tell you the message of these..... rats. Princess Mary commissioned me to do this..... it was worse than your brother...", the haphappy soldier stuttered with a trembling voice.

"My what? Don't call this bastard that way! He is not my brother!" king Richard exclaimed indignantly, wondering why this trembling pile of misery, which would apparently have been most immersed in the ground, gave off such naughtiness. How could he dare? No one was allowed to call Norian the king's brother.

The soldier delivered the rest of his message with a trembling voice." The leader, Maria.... she wanted to kill us all... I said earlier that no one could escape... Well, that's not quite right. Some of your people are still alive and they have joined the mountain rebels, as they now call themselves.... I didn't want to... I have wife and children in the city. The princess wanted to kill me, but your brother... I mean, of course, the other leader didn't really agree with that... and said that I should send you the message that they would no longer hide in the mountains...."

Richard gave a wink to two other soldiers guarding the entrance to his throne room, and they grabbed the unfortunate bearer of the bad news to bring him to the dungeon.

"That will be a lesson for you again! For your outrageous message. But don't worry, in half a year I'll let you pardon.... when I think about it!" Richard shouted after the unfortunate man and he smiled, but the smile threatened to disappear, because now he himself had to deliver bad news to King Leopold.

"So they call themselves mountain rebels and a few of my people have joined them. This is really not good news! But what are they aiming at with their rebellion, if you can call it that? Do they want my throne? Revenge? Or both? And how can I teach King Leopold? He will get angry and reproach me...." 

d told the soldier. "Call them rats!"


	32. The Mountain Rebels

**A few months later...**

Norian had set up in the hut on the edge of the mountains. He and his mountain rebels had succeeded in taking the small village that had the misfortune of being closest to the mountains. To the general relief, they had not encountered any significant resistance, on the contrary, when he and his people showed up, the villagers had sided with them and, as far as they could, helped to drive out the troops soldiers.

"This is a first small success," Fredric said as he entered the hut with Joris.

Norian nodded thankfully to the two magicians. "It was good that you made their gloves burn, Joris. As a result, they had to drop their swords!"

"I don't know if it was necessary at all," the young magician rebuffed. "Some had already surrendered before. And the princess had given such an order. We should not hold back with our magic. But you let those who didn't want to join us run."

In fact, Norian had contented himself with taking away the men who had been taken prisoner and then released them, even if the other leader had not been happy about it. There were only ten soldiers and they were happy to get away relatively unscathed.

The second leader of the mountain rebels tried to explain his motives. 'People shouldn't think we're worse than Richard. If we kill all the people who are against us, voluntarily or not, then we are not much better than Richard. Should they tell us that we have shown grace. It's going to be going to happen and it's more likely to bring people to our side, especially those who suffer from my royal half-brother in particular.'

"You think they should be able to tell a difference!" said Joris, looking around the hut.

"I'm going to put on the fire," he finally struck, looking at the fireplace.

"He always wants to convince himself that his magic also has its good, helpful sides. A side that can save lives and be good, and not just the ones that can be used in combat," Norian said, while Joris threw a few logs into the fireplace.

Norian suspected that this was mainly due to the influence Marie had on him. They had both spent a lot of time together since the attack by Richard's soldiers, who had almost also fallen victim to Joris, before leaving the village in the mountains.

They were very reluctant to separate.

Joris had denied the question of whether the two were more than just good friends. She was too young, but he would still like to have her....

"The girl is now seventeen, she really isn't that small anymore," Thought Norian, glad that he could once ponder something other than the next raid on another village, from which they hoped not only to drive out enemies there, but also to win allies.

There was still a long and arduous road ahead of them, but they had spent the last few weeks and months in the mountains preparing new strategies and making weapons. And there hadn't been a really tough fight yet. One day, perhaps, there would be a real fight that was different from their previous raids. 

"Unlike my father, we will use the skills of our magicians and be prepared," Norian thought, as Joris warmed his hands over his fire.

In the evening, Norian had made himself comfortable in the hut and a woman from the village put a plate of food on his table. 

"We really support you. But is it true that you may eventually be King of Arunia yourself?"

"Probably hardly," Norian thought, shaking his head. "No, I'm not going to be."

This idea had indeed crept into the head of the young leader of the mountain rebels from time to time, but he had driven them out as best he could. It would have been against all laws to crown the king's illegitimate son ruler, even if they succeeded in defeating Richard. But mary was also not considered to be Queen, as she was excluded from the succession to the throne as a woman.

"Only Richard's young son would be left. And for this, someone would have to be appointed regent. But as far as the little ones are concerned, I fear that Mary does not have too kind thoughts. She will do nothing to him. It wouldn't go that far. But she would probably put him and his mother, Queen Niona, in a monastery and let him become a monk there, or something like that. On the one hand, I understand this. It would hardly have been any better. On the other hand.... it has changed. It has become stronger, but also harder."

Norian was concerned about his half-sister's behaviour and he decided to talk to her again the next day.

Early the next morning, Princess Mary awoke and rubbed her eyes sleepily. She remembered the previous day. 

"Another village! In the meantime, we control the entire area, which lies at the foot of the mountains. And we've found more volunteers."

Her smile disappeared as she thought of the few soldiers who had to overwhelm her.

Mary had shown herself to be quite unreciable towards them, and her half-brother had to protect the men who refused to join them.

"Why is he doing this? They are our enemies, they stand against us. They would have no sympathy with us in the opposite case."

She sat down in her bed, where she had spent a restless night, and hated herself for a brief moment. 

What had become of her? It hadn't been like that before. 

She was no longer the Mary with which Dario fell in love and married. She was no longer the young woman who had lived several sides, even if the circumstances were harsh, quite happily by his side.

'I'm not really.... I'm almost like Richard sometimes...."

She shook her head and got up, even though she felt very tired at one time. She didn't want to be like Richard. 

"All that is missing is that I am teaming up with King Leopold, because he considers me to be the more suitable ruler for Arunia. And that I then let richards suppress or oppress people in Richard's place."

Eventually, Mary scareed away the doubting thoughts that threatened to haunt her again and again. 

She knew that she might have shared a cruel trait with her brother. She was not proud of it, but in the circumstances it was unfortunately sometimes necessary to act against her own feelings. And in fact, she had not acted against her own wishes.

She did not exist before others and was reluctant to see her, but she had enjoyed seeing these enemy soldiers standing in front of her frightened and hoping for mercy. 

Hadn't her husband Dario stood in front of her brother? Probably hoping that he would still get away with life? Wasn't he also very scared when he finally died, while the entire population of the capital and Richard watched?

"The last thing he heard and felt was fear and humiliation. The laughter of the people who agreed with Richard's judgment..... why would the people who watched and volunteered to support Richard fare better than Dario? Why? I wouldn't know a single good reason! And Norian can tell me a thousand more times that I would be too guided by my feelings of revenge! What else do I have? Nothing else has remained for me..... nothing!" 


	33. Two different views

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, two different worldviews collide. Will they somehow be reconciled? Or will there ever be a dramatic turn?
> 
> Above all, a woman wants revenge, but her arguments are not entirely out of hand....

The next morning, Mary and Norian sat together in the hut that the young man had seized. He poured in a cup of wine and handed it to his half-sister. 

"Here, drink that. I found it in one of the cupboards here and it tastes pretty good!"

"You don't drink wine in the early morning," Maria said with a skimpy smile. "In any case, I've never really seen you drunk!"

Norian laughed briefly and then shook his head. 'I wasn't getting drunk last night either. No, the situation is still too uncertain to do so. If there is an attack on our newly conquered village, I can't afford to go outside and fight drunk. I kept the wine until this morning and just tried a sip..... what you think of me again!"

Maria laughed as well and for a brief moment she seemed relaxed and friendly as before. 

Norian almost believed that he had his once gentle sister in front of him again. The sister he had found and loved late as such....

But then Mary's smile disappeared and she turned to more serious issues. "You wanted to talk to me? It's serious?"

Norian nodded and didn't really know how to begin the unpleasant subject that lay on his soul. 

"Mary.... it's about you. You changed so much. Everyone has noticed it and we are worried about you on the one hand, but also about the people you are leading and those in the villages we are conquering..."..."

Mary sighed, she guessed what her half-brother wanted. 'You think I've become cruel. Well, you're probably not the only one. But it is necessary! You can't lead an army or win war with niceties! And it has been a war a long time ago, what we are waging against Richard. A war that we must win. The reasons why we want a victory should not play a role in this."

Norian did not agree with his sister. After all, a leader's motives also influenced his actions. But she obviously did not agree with that view.

A week later, it became apparent that Norian's concerns about his sister's behavior were entirely justified.

Two prisoners crouched on the ground unsettled and did not know whether to look at Norian or Mary. One man's hands trembled and it was more than obvious that he was almost terrified to death.

And this fear did not even seem to be unfounded, for Mary stared at him almost hatefully. "You wanted to spy on us! Cursed Pack!"

"We.... have only followed commands! Our commander sent us here.... and he serves King Richard...," said the second prisoner, who seemed to have a better grip. "You have to let us go...."

"So, do we have to?" asked Mary with a mocking smile that almost left Norian's blood in her veins. For a moment, she looked like Richard, once beating and laughing at a younger boy. 

Norian remembered that moment well and he had told his father about it, but king Marius had not been able to exert any good influence on his legitimate son....

Mary pulled out a knife. "I could kill you here and now. But I think I'd rather hang you on the next tree. As a deterrent example. So Richard will see that he really has to count on us and that we pay it back to him with the same coin!"

Norian took the knife out of his sister's hand and gave a wink to his people who had brought the prisoners in. "Lock them up and find out exactly what their mission looked like."

Almost relieved, the prisoners followed their guards, while Mary looked at her half-brother angrily.

"You are too soft-hearted! Something like this will take revenge at some point!"

"Your attitude and actions might as well take revenge! Maybe then people don't want to join us anymore. Besides, it would be unwise to kill them before they might give us important information!" Norian replied calmly as possible, while Mary made it abundantly clear that she was not prepared to deviate from her point of view.

"Mary," Norian tried again. "Richard executes prisoners, oppresses them, and lets magicians persecute. He and Leopold know no mercy with their enemies. And what triggers this for us?"

"Hatred and contempt! And the desire for revenge!" Maria answered violently, before adding a little quietly: "Disgust... and also fear...."

Norian reached for Mary's arm shortly and pressed him gently. "That's what I mean. And if we behave like him, execute prisoners as a deterrent, or scare people, they will soon be just as afraid of us as Richard... then we are no better than him!"

Mary gave her brother a sad smile as she turned away and left the hut. "I understand you, Norian," she said softly. "But such idealism that we are the better people and not as evil as the bad ones, one must also be able to afford! And we can't do that at the moment!" 


	34. Sarina and Mary

Fleur and Marie reached the village and climbed from the back of their tired horses. Fleur briefly patted the neck of the brown stallion, who, to her good fortune, had proved to be lamb-pious. "You're a braver. Not to be imagined if it had struck me on such a stubborn bist as the one with which poor Lady Sarina has to fight her way around!"

The widow of former leader Bran shook his head with a skimpy smile. "When I fled to the mountains, together with Norian and Bran, I travelled much more awkwardly. We could hardly afford a rest and had our pursuers in our necks all the time."

"Well, it's not much safer now," the tired Fleur said, rubing her leg. She and the other women wore long, thick trousers, but her legs hurt after the long ride and she was glad she no longer had to sit.

She was glad that they had finally reached their goal.

Norian greeted the arrivals and hugged his mother. "Good that you could come! But you should have stayed in the mountains! I brew support from other healers, and you...."

"I'm not a healer, but I didn't want to let the two girls travel alone! I also want to make myself useful," Sarina said.

Norian thought of how much his mother's grief was different from that of his half-sister Mary. Sarina also suffered from Bran's loss. But she managed to keep her desire for revenge largely in check. Instead, she always seemed to think about how Bran would have reacted in appropriate situations.

Once again, Norian realized how much they all lacked the mostly calm and calm leader.

Surely some things would have been different in recent times if he were still alive. Norian often wondered if Bran had also decided to leave the mountains after the attack on the hideout in the mountains.

Sarina seemed to have similar thoughts, as she smiled at her son wistfully. "You think of him, don't you?"

Norian nodded. "Yes, I am also thinking of Bran. And I could use his advice very well right now!"

But basically he knew what Bran would advise him, at least with regard to Mary. He would say that their grief had revealed their worse and at the same time their strongest qualities. And that the inheritance she shared with her brother Richard also broke out. Both had the same ancestors both on the maternal and paternal sides. Both seemed to have a penchant for cruelty.

Norian didn't really like this idea. Did this come from the family that came from the king's mother and his sister? Or did some of these qualities also affect him?

He didn't hope that was the case. What would become of them all, if he also began to live out his desire for revenge?

Marie greeted Joris cautiously. She didn't really know if he would really be happy about her appearance. They had been separated for some time and she had missed him very much. She hoped he would have done the same.

He hugged her and pressed her. "I missed you..." he muttered, but then broke off from her.

She sighed. All that separated them was once again between them. 

"I'm not as young as I was when I came to the mountains, Joris!" said Marie quietly. "I am seventeen years old.... basically grown up! Many young women my age are married and already have children...."

"The circumstances are so unfavorable," Joris said. "Even if we leave the age difference aside, it is difficult. We are in a war, and you have seen it happen to those who have lost it..."

Mary shook her head and put her arms around Joris. "That doesn't have to happen to us. It doesn't have to end like this every time!"

Joris did not answer, but gently stroked Marie's hair. He, too, desperately hoped that their togetherness would not come to a tragic end. At some point, he understood Princess Mary a little better. 

If something happened to Marie, he would certainly act in the same way as she did....

Sarina sat opposite the princess, the leader of the mountain rebels, in the hut where she had settled.

Mary looked at the other woman with disbelief and she became aware that the younger woman had indeed changed. 

She had never had such a look before. "Send your son?" Mary asked, anthem. "Does he want you to bring me to reason? Tell me that the way I go in this fight is the wrong one?"

"Something like this I really wanted to tell you. And no, not Norian sent me! He doesn't need anything like that, Mary!" Sarina replied calmly as possible. 'It can't go on like this. I agree that we still need to see a difference between you and Richard!"

Maria laughed briefly and bitterly, then she gave Sarina an almost contemptuous look. "And you don't want revenge? Haven't you also lost your husband? Or has he never meant so much to you? Do you care that he is no longer alive?"

Sarina would have preferred to slap the young woman, who stood in front of her angrily. Shouldn't Bran have loved her? His death should leave her cold?

"Just because I loved him, I want our country to become a better place. I want it to be as he would have liked! Do you think Dario would be happy if he saw you now?"

Mary remained silent, but then shook her head. "I will go my way as I see fit. Unfortunately, I can't ask Dario anymore! He's dead, because of Richard! And he will pay for it, and if it is the last thing I do in my life!"

This phrase seemed to mean Mary seriously, as Sarina was aware of. "It could be the last thing you do, Mary! Everything you do now could one day fall back on all of us!" 


	35. Upcoming fight

Mary packed up her weapons, a squad of enemy soldiers approached the small village and they and their mountain rebels would give them a corresponding reception. 

King Marius' daughter smiled mockingly. The soldiers would regret running over her and the others. They would either pay for the encounter with life, or they would never forget it.

She didn't particularly like the latter possibility. She did not want to be remembered, but she wanted to pay for her husband's death and make her bleed for it, as did all the others who were still on Richard's side.

Doubts crept in for a moment as she left her hut, but then she shook her head slightly. 

Even though part of her knew that what she was doing would probably have caused outrage at Dario, she ousted that small, admonishing voice. It would do what needed to be done. She would do it for Dario and for the people of Arunien.

But above all for yourself.

Mary smiled. At least in front of herself, she admitted this. "I do it for myself. Not just for Dario. I am the one who wants revenge. Certainly, Dario is the one who is dead. It is he who was executed under the mockery of the crowd and then buried somewhere with the criminals.

But Richard hurt me with it. And no one will ever do that again, never again. In the future, I will be the one who spreads sorrow and inflicts pain and suffering on her brother Richard, and it will never be the other way around! Never again!"

Shortly afterwards, Mary sat on her horse and her brother Norian rode by her side. "We will deal with them! I think we're even outnumbered," Maria said.

Norian nodded. "Yes, we are. They still underestimate us! But that will be their mistake!"

Mary smiled, and her brother Norian, too, did not seem to pay too much attention to his moral principles when a fight was imminent. Somehow he was very similar to her, even if he might not always admit it. 

"You're just like me," she said with an almost appreciative smile that Norian didn't want to be happy about.

"I hope that there is still one or two differences between us, Mary! I'm fighting now because it has to be. Because these soldiers would otherwise attack us and drag us away as prisoners, we should stay alive at all. It has to be. And I wish there was another possibility....."

Mary shook her head disapprovingly. "Norian, there is no other way! Or maybe you want to send one of our people as messengers and ask them to leave us alone? Well, probably the one without a head would come back to us!"

Norian, too, expected such a reaction from his enemies, they would certainly not negotiate with them or renounce an attack on the mountain rebels, when they had once tracked them down.

Norian shook his head. No, a defeat like the one in the mountain attack would not be for them this time.

"If there was another way, then...," he began, but his half-sister interrupted him. "Then you would go, I know. And I respect that too. But in this case, I think it's better!"

She turned to the men who had followed them on horses and who kept their weapons at hand.

"We will surprise them and they will regret ever having sat down with us! We will leave one or two so that they can tell Richard about us! They should tell us everywhere, they should all know that we must be counted on!"

"Mary...", Norian began, but then remained silent. Now was the wrong time to talk to his sister again about their behavior, as the enemy soldiers approached them relentlessly.

He also addressed the men he and his sister led. "We will prevent them from attacking us and coming before them!"

Norian waved to Joris, who accompanied the group, along with two healers. "You will attack them with magic! Do you see the trees over there? Ignite them when they ride underneath! This will stop them, maybe some of them will even flee!"

"You better light them!" said Mary, pointing to the soldiers who were now riding along the path and approaching the trees.

"So what..... I can't...," Joris stammered, but King Marius' daughter threw him a mocking glance.

"Of course you can! Instead of a tree, you light the clothes...."

"You know what he means!" Norian quietly interrupted his sister, also so as not to rebuke her from her people. 

"Yes, I know what he means! But we will not defeat Richard if you continue to have the intention to enter the history books of Aruni as Norian the Merciful!" said Maria bitingly, while her half-brother silently swallowed this remark before giving Joris a wink. "Ignite the trees now!"

The trees caught fire and some burning branches fell to the ground in front of the soldiers. The horses piled up and a man was thrown off. Mary took note of this with a nasty smile and she turned again to Joris. "Kill him, the way you can do it best!"

"No....," Joris stammered, and Mary looked at him with anger, but remained silent as they, Norian and the others rode on the enemy soldiers. She would have a serious conversation with Joris later. Now was not the time to be simply.

This, in Mary's view, was due to the influence of the young Marie. She still felt a fear of Dario's magical abilities, which could be so devastating. But it was not right that he held back because of them in an emergency.

Some of them had actually sought their salvation in the meantime, while others were still left behind and their heavier seers. 

Now they had discovered their opponents and held on to them with their horses. Mary drew a sword, not too long ago, after Dario's death, that she had begun teaching swordfighting. 

Her determination to learn how to fight had frightened her teacher, and he had warned her more than once to slow it down a little.

But all the exhortations were now forgotten, Mary saw only the enemies before her, which she would now fight.... 


	36. The Prisoner, Part I

Norian, Mary and their followers reached the enemy soldiers, and the king's daughter pushed the first man, who did not expect such an attack, with her elbow out of the saddle, before kicking another who attacked her on foot.

From the corners of her eyes she saw that her companions were also involved in fights. Mary could not suppress a smile when one of her enemies squatted on the floor in front of her and looked at her imploringly. She raised her sword while the young man raised his arms in front of his face. But then Mary thought of something better and she let her gun sink.

She nodded. Yes, it would be gracious for the moment.

"Take the man into the village!" she instructed two of her people, and the unfortunate prisoner was taken away as the battle turned in favor of the mountain rebels.

Relieved, Norian turned to his people. "We won another fight!"

"And a defeat that ihopethey will remember," Mary added, pointing to the prisoner, who was standing at some distance on shaky legs between two of her people.

"Bring him to the village. And there we will decide what to do with him!"

Joris followed the other mountain rebels with concern. He did not like the leader's behaviour. She had actually asked him to direct his magic against the soldiers. This was not unusual, of course, but he had never been ordered to set people on fire! 

This order had terrified him. Was that what he fought for? What were they all fighting for? For a world as cruel as the one Richard had already made of Arunia? Another thought came to him.

How could he have looked Marie in the face with a clear conscience if he had obeyed this order? She rejected his magical abilities enough, and this would surely have nipped in the bud any feelings that they had just allowed.

"Mary is really Richard's sister! Why doesn't she immediately side with him? Then they could together tyrannize the land," Joris thought when they returned to the village.

He waved to Fredric, the young healer who had joined them. "Help the wounded. Some of us, as well as the prisoner, have suffered injuries! Marie and Fleur will also help."

Fredric had healed the wounds of one of the rebels as he bent down to the prisoner, who was sitting on the ground, guarded by two men. "Let me see your leg. It doesn't look good!"

The prisoner looked at Fredric unsettled. "You are a... Magician... that is forbidden...."

"You probably also listened to the horror stories that are being told to you and the people of Arunien, what?" asked Fredric with a bitter smile. "Probably you think we're monsters!"

The prisoner did not answer, but Fredric knew only too well that he had hit the mark with his presumption. 

Apparently, the stories that Richard and his people spread about the magicians had a big impact. But he had already had this bitter experience during his time in the capital of Arunia.

"Niona didn't believe it," he thought with a faint smile as he remembered his former lover.

The memory of her still hurt, but he knew that it was hopeless to continue to hope for a future together with her. Their beautiful time together was, unfortunately, a thing of the past.

"What did I hope for," he thought sadly, but then turned back to the prisoner and put his hand on his leg injury.

"I'm going to heal that now. And maybe you don't believe that we're all monsters or demons or the like....

"Why are you bothering in the first place? You will not leave me in life!" the prisoner inquired softly and pulled away his leg. "If I die from it, it might even go faster and not hurt as much as if this terrible woman gets my hands on me!"

Fredric shook his head. "Nothing will happen to you!"

He did not know whether these words were true. He, too, believed that Princess Mary had become unpredictable since her husband's death, but he wanted to take care of the prisoner's injury and therefore carefully pulled her leg up.

The prisoner saw that the wound on his leg closed and he gave the young magician a grateful look, even though he still seemed to be afraid of him.

"What's your name?" Fredric inquired, helping the man get up.

"My name..." the prisoner began, but was interrupted when someone struck him on the shoulder and he fell to the ground.

Mary stood between Fredric and the prisoner. "Take care of our people! Marie, Fleur and the other magicians could need a little help! I'm doing this here....."

In doubt, Fredric looked at his leader. He didn't like the look she gave to the prisoner lying on the ground, but she made a hand gesture thrown away. 

"I just said you should take care of those who really need your help.... and which they deserve!"

She turned to the two men, who were now some distance away. They had taken a short break while Fredric took care of the prisoner's wound, but still did not leave him out of sight for a moment, even if an escape seemed impossible.

"You come here and take this.... Piece of man with. We'll take him to my hut and I'll ask him a few questions that he'd better answer!"

Once again, she turned to Fredric and ruled him displeased. "You heard what I said! Take care of our people and leave it to me!" 


	37. The Prisoner, Part II

Fredric watched the two men who carried the young prisoner away to take him to the leader's hut. He did not feel comfortable with the matter, even if the young man was an enemy. But was there a reason to treat it worse than is absolutely necessary?

"What will happen to him?" asked Fredric, who also turned to walk, smiling at him almost mockingly. 

"What do you think will happen to him? I'm not going to cook him a good soup and take care of him lovingly.... and do you see this tree over there? Well, he'll hang there soon...."

The young prisoner shrugged, the princess had spoken loudly enough to be understood by him, and no doubt she had intended to do just that. A little louder, she added: "That's already decided, my brother and I agree!"

Fredric looked after his leader as she followed the three men. 

The young man was sorry for him. Surely Mary would not be too simpeachous with him and he would not have been able to exchange with him at any price in the world.

"She will do her family all credit," Fredric thought bitterly, and when Joris stepped next to him, he realized that he was not the only one with this view.

"I could almost feel sorry for this guy!" said Joris, but then shrugged. 'Maybe it's not going to be that bad. Maybe she'll just intimidate him a little...."

But a glance at Jori's face made it clear that he was not really in that view. 

"Maybe we should teach Norian? Surely he would like to be interrogated.... "Do you want to go forward?" fredric dared, but Joris shook his head. 

"He, too, is interested in getting as much information as possible about our opponents. The question, of course, is to what extent this little soldier can give it at all. He might not even know that he might meet us!"

Fredric also assumed this circumstance, but his and Jori's opinion would probably not be of much interest to the king's daughter. Besides, weren't they at war, in a sense? Could they even afford to be simpeached.

Fredric thought of the young queen, and the thought that he might not be well as her former lover, he didn't like at all. Until now, he had not shared this secret with anyone, but none of the rebels was close enough to him. And wouldn't he end up being a spy of the Queen, of which none of the rebels knew exactly how she stood with her husband?

No, his secret would have to remain a secret, well or badly.

Joris quickly said goodbye to Fredric when he saw Marie approaching him. A little insecure, she stopped in front of him and finally he locked her in his arms.

Fredric gave them a sad, envious smile before turning away.

"Nothing happened to you, good. I, along with Fleur, got a few injured over there," she pointed to four men who were now slowly rising up, "taken care of. They will recover, fortunately no one was hurt!"

She took a closer look at Joris. "But you're still somehow not doing well, aren't you?"

The young magician shook his head, but didn't really want to come out with the language, which Marie of course did not escape. 

"Tell me what it is!" she asked, guessing the reason.

"It's Mary, isn't it? You.... sometimes goes a little too far, even if I can still understand them on the one hand. But it's gotten so hard, sometimes it scares me!"

Joris nodded and he pressed Marie. He was still reluctant to tell her about the incident during the fight, but then he gave himself a jolt.

"She wanted me not only to have trees, weapons or the like... ignite. I should be the soldiers myself....."

"That's... horrible!" said Marie, taking a step back. This gave Joris a stab.

The mere fact that he was able to do so seemed to inspire her enough fear and disgust.

"I didn't," Joris said softly. 

Marie nodded, seemed infinitely relieved by his answer, and for a moment Joris wondered what she actually thought of him. 

Does she really think he's so cruel? On the other hand, wasn't that really the case?

In fact, he had already used his powers more than once to the detriment of other people, and each time it seemed to move further away from Marie and her view of things. Even with himself and his own values, he could not really reconcile this often enough.

"I'm glad you didn't, Joris!" said Marie, smiling cheerfully at him. "And I'm glad you're back. But what about this prisoner that Mary and her people have just taken away? What will happen to him?"

Joris shrugged. "He shall be interrogated!"

The young man was still a little sorry for him, on the other hand he was indeed one of their enemies, even if he doubted that he would be able to reveal any important information.

Norian entered his half-sister's hut. He had learned more by chance that she had had a prisoner taken to her accommodation for questioning, and this circumstance annoyed him.

Wasn't he as much a leader as she was? Shouldn't he have been present at this interrogation?

"She takes it all in! This cannot go on like this! Does she want to take sole control? It seems so, and I fear that if this continues, there will still be controversy among our people! Some people quite agree that I am too soft, while others are now openly saying that they would follow me if there was a separation...."

He wanted to avoid a separation of the rebel group, which continued to grow. 

But this was only possible when he and Mary finally began to work together and did not make important decisions without informing the other beforehand. He also feared that his half-sister might go a little too far during this interrogation.

What would it do to get information? Could the prisoner, a small soldier, give her at all? Was he even initiated into the plans of his superiors?

He was reluctant to use unnecessary atrocities for nothing and again nothing during an interrogation. Didn't Mary really want to live out her desire for revenge again? But was this prisoner, on the other hand, worth another quarrel between them?

'He's not one of our people who treats her badly, cursed again! It's a captive enemy! No more and no less," Norian said to himself, still unsure whether he should really let it matter to a possible rift between himself and Mary..... 


	38. The Prisoner, Part III

Mary looked at Norian as he entered her accommodation and he knew that she felt he was a troublemaker. 

His gaze wandered around and he saw a young man lying bent together in a corner of the hut. He held his forearm and his face was pain-distorted.

Two of the rebels stood next to him and one held a knife in his hand. 

"Should I still?" he asked, unsure, and Mary nodded. "Yes, we are only just beginning to achieve success! So far, he hasn't wanted to talk! He actually claims he doesn't know anything...."

"I... really don't know anything!" the prisoner whimpered, prompting Mary to give him a slight kick. "You should talk when you are asked! And only then!"

She bent down to him and pulled him by his hair a bit. "You probably thought you didn't have to take us seriously, what? We'd just be a few stupid little rebels from the mountains who don't bend a fly's hair! Well, you were wrong! I'll see you now..."

Norian reached for his sister's arm and pulled her away from the prisoner and up to him, a little more uncontrollable than necessary.

"What do you think?" she asked angrily. "Don't disturb my interrogated! After all, it should also be in your interest to get information! The guy is lying.... and if not, well, he sees that we must not be underestimated!"

Norian shook his head, he did not shares his sister's view, and he told her so." I really don't think he can give us too much information, Mary! He is not an officer, not one of those who has anything to say. And certainly not someone Richard would personally introduce to his secrets! He is a simple little soldier who has only followed his orders! He most probably didn't even have a choice whether he wanted to serve in the army or not! Richard's army is by far not only made up of the free-will, but of those he gets from families with many children!"

The two men, who had posed next to the prisoners, looked alarmed from Mary to Norian.

"How are we to continue now? Shall we. take a break?" one of them asked.

Norian nodded. "Yes, you both are taking a break now! Take the prisoner with you, make sure his wounds are treated and take good care of him! I don't want him to flee!"

Maria stared at her brother in anger as the two men and the prisoner left the hut.

"Why did you expose me to the men? How are they supposed to take my commands seriously in such a way?"

"And how are they supposed to accept me when you make decisions behind my back?" asked Norian, and he also spoke louder than necessary.

Maria's mouth turned to a hateful smile. "You don't think you have enough influence here? I would undermine him? Well, maybe that's because you're just the bastard of a king... while I would certainly have some more claims..."

"Oh, that's the way it is! Now it's personal, isn't it?" Norian told his half-sister. "Now you are trying to boot me out by your origin. Well, at least my mother didn't bring out a son like Richard...."

She pulled out and he felt a burning pain on his cheek. A little bit he had probably actually deserved this slap. The remarks about her mother had been anything but friendly. And was it really necessary for them both to fall to such a low level? Wasn't it any different?

Mary did not seem to see this. "We really should sort this out once and for all! I should lead the mountain rebels! You are too soft and bring us all misfortune again at some point! I, on the other hand.... would lead them to victory! To the victory over Richard! I would drive him from his throne...."

"And just take his place? Perhaps let his wife, your mother, and your sister, who live in the monastery, execute? Or put in a prison for life, so that they do not jeopardize your rule? Or what about Richard's young son? Would you remove it or lock it up? And then there's still me..." said Norian angrily. "You'd do everything the same way as Richard, wouldn't you? You would be a very worthy successor to him!"

Mary became angry. 'Don't compare me to him. Maybe I would execute his wife and child, yes. And he could watch! He should feel what I felt when Dario died! He took my husband from me! I take his family and his kingdom from him! I think that is a good balance! And yes, maybe... I would also have you eliminated, you bastard!"

They looked at each other in anger and finally Norian said, "You are no longer really with your senses, Mary! I think the madness gnaws at you. I can't call it any more! You are a danger to all of us!"

She pulled out and wanted to hit her half-brother again, but he grabbed her wrist and held it. Then everything happened very quickly.

Mary reached for her knife, which she always carried with her, and stabbed her before Norian could react in any way. He grabbed his stomach and looked at her stunned.

It seemed as if he could not believe how far Mary had gone in her anger and her madness, which he considered to be beginning.

He collapsed and fell to the ground. Maria pressed a hand in front of her mouth and dropped her knife. Was she really able to do so?

She had basically liked Norian since they had found a little more together in the mountains. Their relationship had been fraternal before Dario's death, and they had been close at times. Her threat to execute Richard's family had also slipped out of her, even if she had considered it, removed.....

"What have I done?" she thought, terrified. She couldn't believe it. And how would their people react to their actions? 

How would they accept that she had seriously injured or killed the other leader, her own brother? She didn't want that.....

They would no longer accept her as a leader, she was sure of that. Too many were already on Norian's side anyway and his mother Sarina also enjoyed some influence....

She had to go away, far away from the others. Forgotten was her intention to take revenge on Richard. Surely she would not give it up forever. Her hated brother would still hear from her. But now she had to get help for Norian and then flee.

"If he stays alive, then... he will hate me! He thinks I'm insane anyway," Maria thought, running out of the hut as quickly as possible.

Her horse was tied up nearby and she got up. She rode off, but stopped again and approached a woman wearing a large jug. 

"Get a healer.... Quickly! And go with him to my hut! There is an injured man there! Hurry up! I hope... you don't come too late!"

This hope was indeed held by Mary when she rode out of the village to her astonished looking at her, so as not to return.... Not yet... only when their deed was forgotten and forgiven..... 


	39. Norian's decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the new chapter. Will Norian Mary's attack survive? And what is the future leadership of the mountain rebels?

Marie and Fleur bent over Norian, who was still lying dazed on Mary's bed.

The sisters had lifted him there after treating the wound on his abdomen.   
"How did this happen?" asked Marie, looking at her sister inquiringly, without really expecting an answer.

Fleur shrugged. 'I don't know either.... perhaps this prisoner has hurt him. That would be possible, wouldn't it?"

But she knew that only Norian could give them an accurate answer as to what had happened. A frightening thought rose in Fleur. What if Mary was responsible for his wounding? 

She had almost left the village in a curse.

"The two have clashed more often lately," Fleur muttered, and her sister looked at her inquiringly.

"You're talking about Norian and Mary? We all noticed this and it has already caused quite a stir among people in some places!"

'So you think it's possible that she attacked him? During an argument?" fleur inquired, hoping that she was wrong. 

What would become of them when the leaders were already going to stab each other with knives? Were they not all inevitably doomed? Wouldn't the men get into an argument with each other?

"I'm afraid it might have been like that!" said Marie quietly. 'Maybe they got into an argument about this prisoner. And then she saw what she did and fled...."

"Maybe the best she could do. With only one leader, we'll probably move on!" said Fleur, animating. 'She had changed so much. At the time, she was... not so!"

"I can understand them a little! If I imagined it was Joris who was executed... then I might have become the same!"

She smiled weakly. "After all, we have almost the same name!"

The younger one didn't want to hear about it. Shaking her head, she looked at her sister. 'You're not like them! You don't! You can't hurt a fly and you're still leaning off Joris in a certain way simply because he would be able to do something..."

Marie shrugged. The mention of this circumstance still gave her a stab. She knew she was wrong ingesrant to Joris in a way. He could not do anything for what he was, and until now, despite Mary's orders to the contrary, he had been quite careful with his abilities. 

She shook her head involuntarily. Now was not the right time to think about it, because to her and Marie's relief, Norian opened her eyes again.

He tried to sit down, but grabbed his stomach. 

"That.... is not quite right yet....," he muttered, and Fleur put her hand on his skin again.

"I'm going to make it a little more bearable! But the injury is healed.... even if we are all puzzled as to how this happened!"

Norian was silent, apparently he didn't want to talk to them about this matter now. This offended Fleur. Apparently, in Norian's eyes, they were still among the children with whom some things were not talked about and who had to be protected from too much mischief. She didn't want him to see her like that.

Norian straightened up. "Who knows about it? I mean from my injury?"

Mary shrugged. "Two men who helped us.... two villagers..."

"Then it should be like that! It shouldn't make the rounds... can you both remain silent? And send the two men to me, I will also talk to them. I do not want this matter to become the main topic of discussion for the mountain rebels.... where is Mary?"

"She left the village!" said Marie, while Fleur tried to explain Norian's behavior.

In the evening, the two sisters strolled through the village. "I still don't understand! Why didn't Norian tell him that Mary attacked him? Why doesn't he want it to be known?"

Marie shrugged thoughtfully. She had her guesses and after a brief moment she shared them with her sister. 

'He doesn't want further unrest. Some of the men believe that he and Maria should lead the mountain rebels together. Still others think it should be one of them.... and now Mary has gone. They now believe that this was their decision because they wanted to give up the leadership.....

"And if it came out that Norian attacked, would those who were on his side come together with their people?" asked Fleur. "Is that the reason?"

Marie nodded. "I suspect that will be the reason. But now it looks as if Mary and Norian have peacefully agreed that he should take the lead. Everyone saw Mary leave the village..... it is now assumed that she would find it too difficult to see Norian as the sole leader. But she will not do anything about it, which she would have done with the help of those who are on her side!"

In fact, In response to questions, Norian had explained that Mary had left the village of her own free will. This was received partly with concern, but for the most part with relief. Now, at last, the dispute between the leaders seemed to have sat out. And have they done badly with Norian's decisions so far?

Most of the rebels were concerned about the fact that the future would be difficult and dangerous enough for them. At least the concern that the leaders did not agree had now been resolved.


	40. Concerns of a King

**Three months later**

King Leopold had felt compelled to send another messenger to his subordinate King Richard. 

He looked at the messenger, who looked mockingly at him and once again did not show him the necessary respect that he would have received as king.

"My Lord, King Leopold, is far from satisfied with you, Richard!" the man told me with a mockingly dripping voice.

He didn't really say anything new to Richard, but still a shiver ran over his back every time he heard these words from a messenger's mouth. What if King Leopold, this cursed oppressor, was one day so dissatisfied with him that he no longer trusted Richard to rule his country? If he decided to replace him with someone else?

Dark thoughts spread in the head of the king of Arunien." Then my successor would have to fight with the mountain rebels. They certainly wouldn't make life much easier than me. But maybe someone else would deal with them.... and what would become of me then? Would Leopold leave me alive at all? Would he allow me to peacefully retreat to a beautiful castle and rule my own little court there? I wouldn't in his place! I would.... someone like me throw in a damp dungeon or even have it removed. Public or discreet...."

Both possibilities clearly displeased Richard and he did not really know how to arrange King Leopold through his messenger, that the mountain rebels continued to receive influx from the population....

There were rumors that Norian was now leading her alone. 

"This little Bengel Norian plays leader! And Mary? My sister? She has probably withdrawn. Well, she could have had that in the monastery," Richard thought, shaking his head, while the messenger was still staring at him.

"I will be able to cope with the situation!" said Richard, animating, trying to keep his face. "Go now and tell your Lord that there will be no reason to be dissatisfied with me! I'm still more loyal.... Co king and he knows that!"

"His subject, you should not forget that, Richard! And King Leopold instructed me to remind you of this again! He has the impression that you forget this from time to time....."

The messenger laughed at one time. "You have already promised to deal with the situation! Back then, you pulled back too quickly after you managed to capture Bran. Well, basically the situation has gotten much worse since then and now you should consider it a serious threat! King Leopold is already doing this.... so you should do it as soon as possible, otherwise he will do so!"

Richard hoped that his facial expression would not make his true feelings too clear. He would have preferred to drag this messenger into the dungeon on the spot and leave it there to his people, who were entrusted with the torture of unwelcome prisoners.

But King Leopold probably would never have let him go through this. No, because of a messenger he did not want to risk his kingdom and certainly not his life and his freedom.

So, once again, he swallowed down the naughtiness of one of the other king's messengers. 


	41. Conversations

Marie quietly entered Jori's hut and sneaked to the fire pit on tiptoes. The young magician still slept deeply and tightly and the young woman smiled. She sneaked to his bed and carefully stroked over his hair, which put a smile on his lips.

Marie stayed at Jori's bed for a moment before sneaking back to the fire pit and then igniting the fire.

"He could do it without my help, even from his bed," Marie thought with a smile. "But he will be happy when he wakes up and it's nicely warm here."

Shortly afterwards, Joris actually opened his eyes and sat down in bed. "I call this a nice surprise....," he said, and Marie nodded a little hesitantly. "We should make it beautiful. After all, the times are not so... good for us!"

Joris looked at Marie in amazement. The times were bad? In his view, the opposite was true. 

They had decided some battles, the village at the foot of the mountains had become one of their main bases and they had begun to build fortifications around. 

It was to become a real base to retreat to in dangerous times and forge new plans.

"Marie, I think you see all this a little too black! We're doing pretty well!" said Joris, pulling the young woman to her home.

Marie, however, insisted on her view. "Obviously we're doing pretty well from a military point of view. But there is something like a war in the country! We against Richard's people. So far it has been going quite well for us..... but who knows how long this will last!"

Joris put an arm around Marie's shoulder and tried to look at her cheerfully. He hoped she would succeed. 

In part, he understood their concern. Despite their successes, they were at war, although it was not officially named by Richard's side. He spoke of a small uprising, which he would quickly get to grips with.

A war always meant the dead and the injured, and Joris, who would have liked to have lived a quiet life with Marie by his side, did not like this either. 

She, on the other hand, seemed to suffer even more from the situation than he did. She longed for a peaceful life, and the idea that those close to her could be hurt or killed frightened her. He didn't know how to take away her quite justified fear.

"Do you know what I'm most afraid of, Joris?" she asked softly, shaking his head. "Tell me!"

"What I'm most afraid of is that at some point I might be forced to kill or injure someone! I don't want that. I'm sure I couldn't, and if I had to do it anyway, maybe I would never get over it!" said Marie in a trembling voice, and Joris stroked her hair calmly.

"I hope it won't happen!"

  
Fleur had just healed the puncture wound on a young man's head. This was the prisoner who, a few months ago, had fallen on Mary's hands and had been treated rather badly.

Since then, he had made several attempts to escape and seemed unwilling to cooperate in any way with the mountain rebels.

"He wanted to run away before," Fleur thought, shaking his head. 'He can't do that. People are paying too good attention to this. Everyone knows him here and as soon as he tries to leave the village, someone stops him...."

This time, too, the young man had not escaped without blessures. "Let's finally be a lesson! You are largely left alone, you should just not leave the house and do not make any attempts to escape! With Richard, you'd probably be in a dark dungeon. You would be much less pleased there...."

"Wouldn't. But I will not be with King Richard or with you!" the prisoner turned in with disbelief, shrugging back as Fleur reached for his arm. There was a large bruise, which he had suffered in a fall. "Let me heal that...".

"Leave me alone! I don't want any help from you... you are no better than Richard!" the prisoner grumbled, and Fleur rose. "As you like. Then watch how you cope with your injury...."

This did not seem to please the young man, but he remained silent and turned away from Fleur instead.

She sighed. "Could you stop it? Or is the wall really so interesting that you have to stare at it all the time?"

He shrugged, but gave no answer. "Nothing but trouble with the guy," Fleur muttered, but could understand him a little.

Of course, he didn't think too kindly about the mountain rebels. He lived among them as a prisoner and Princess Mary was not too simple with him.

"He could at least join us.... then he would enjoy more freedom," Fleur thought.

On the other hand, the young man, whose name she did not even know, was honest enough not to pretend to be. 

Or was he too stupid to do so? He didn't really make a stupid impression on her.... 


	42. Visit to a prisoner

Fleur did not let go of the thought of the young prisoner. His behaviour worried her, what if he tried to flee again? Surely those who had been entrusted with his guarding would eventually have enough of having trouble with him.

Then he would have to endure a much more unsmooth treatment and she was sorry for this prospect.

Basically, Fleur wondered why Norian didn't just let the young man run. Surely he couldn't reveal too many secrets if he fell into Richard's hands.

"And he doesn't want to go back to Richard," Fleur thought as she left the hut where the prisoner was squatting on an uncomfortable bed and staring at him from there.

"I wanted to look for you. You were a little sorry for me a few days ago...," Fleur said, but the prisoners shrugged their words together. "I don't need your pity. None of you...."

"If you're so unkind to everyone and everyone, it's no wonder no one is very nice to you!" said Fleur, disapproving. "I can also go again if I just waste my time here!"

It almost seemed as if the prisoner was trying to do just that, and Fleur turned to walk again.

"Wait.... Don't go yet!" said the young man, as Fleur just put her hand on the door.

She smiled briefly and turned to him. He wasn't quite as unavoidable, wasn't he?

"Well, I'm still staying. But don't be so rude to me. I didn't do anything to you!" said Fleur, sitting on a stool. "I don't even know your name!"

"I'm Tobias!" the young man replied a little hesitantly. "But why do you want to know? Nobody else cares..... except for those who want information from me. Information I can't give. Why can't I just go?"

'I don't really know. But maybe... should you work with us a little more?" asked Fleur unsure. "That would certainly make it easier for you and you'd wear far fewer bruises from it."

Tobias shrugged. Then he shook his head. "Everyone else would respond to it for a sham.... but I just can't do that... others are so mendacious..."

"You served the most deceitful man ever, Richard!" Fleur disagreed a little incredulously, but Tobias didn't want to know about it.

'That's not quite right. I never served him voluntarily. But in the vicinity of the capital, the eldest sons all had to come forward, otherwise they would have been forcibly dragged to the army..."

"I'm sorry," Fleur said, and she meant her words honestly. "But then you would have to be happy not to be there anymore. You could be much better off here!"

"Better?" Tobias asked mockingly. "Yes, sure. I'm better off with Princess Maria than with her brother! Well, whether I end up there in a torture chamber or here, that really doesn't matter too much to me!"

Fleur wanted to reciprocate, but Tobias interrupted her. "And don't tell me now that King Richard's sister is no longer there! I already know that. But the others.... two of them helped her when... they interrogated me. And no one else really has it... disturbed!"

Unfortunately, Fleur had to agree in part, whether she wanted it or not. No one had shown too much sympathy with the prisoner, even if Norian had saved him from further abuse.

"But how would one have done it if one had expected that he would be able to give information?" thought the young magician worried.

Wouldn't Norian have used tougher interrogation methods in the end?

Marie looked at her younger sister a little amused when she left again the next day to visit the prisoner.

"Well, did you find a new friend in Tobias? After all, he has given you his name! That's a huge step for him, isn't it?"

Fleur did not understand her sister's teasing tone. Why did she talk about it as if she had visited her loved one instead of a prisoner yesterday?

Marie sighed. "You like this guy. You didn't just go to him out of pity. Is there a good thing? or is Norian still haunting your head?"

The mention of her former enthusiasm for the leader of the mountain rebels made the young woman blush. 

'He wasn't our leader at the time. And unlike Joris, he never paid attention to me. Joris was also in love with you.... even if he didn't want it to be true. But Norian never really noticed that I exist and even now he seems to count me somehow among the children!"

Unfortunately, Marie had to agree to this. For a long time Fleur had stammered embarrassed each time Norian spoke to her and had become strangely calm in his presence. But this had been going on for some time. Marie was glad that Fleur did not get into a hopeless craze.

But she also disliked these visits to Tobias. What if the young man just wanted to use Fleur and abuse it to escape? If he sneaked into their trust?

What if she got into a frenzy again? Into a swarm that would ultimately only hurt her?

'I'd love to know why they wouldn't let him go.... he knows nothing, can't reveal much.... why should he stay here at all?" she thought, shaking her head. She had spoken to Joris about it last night, but he had no answer either. 


	43. All signs on storm

Richard, dressed in dark armor, entered Queen Niona's bedroom. The young queen turned away and looked out the window.

It was unusual to see her husband in the clothes of a warrior, in his last fight he had not worn armor.

"But he only let others fight for himself," thought the young woman, who would have liked to smile ironically. 

But she did not dare to do so. Richard's mood was already bad enough and she didn't want to put him against him any more than necessary.

"I'm going to leave now, Niona! In my absence you should rest! It is best to leave your rooms or not to leave your bed.... who knows, maybe you got pregnant again! I need a second, possible heir!" said Richard, disapprovingly.

Niona nodded in silence. Over the past three nights, she had once again feigned love adventures that did not take place. She gradually wondered that he was still falling for it.

Or did he not? Has he long been suspicious? His initial kindness towards her had subsided.

Even little Richard he did not look at with the initial benevolence. "The little one doesn't come after me! How is he supposed to be a great king?" Richard had said the night before, and Niona had pinched an answer that was on her tongue.

"Just because he doesn't come after you, he might one day become a great king!"

No, she could not make such a remark to Richard. This could cost her, and, worse, her young son, head and collar.

But now Richard looked at his wife almost desperately. "I don't want this war! I do not want to have to fight against these rebels! They're literally pushing me this fight..."

"Yes, poor Richard! But first and foremost it is King Leopold who wants you to finally clean up with this threat," Queen Niona said, nodding unhappily. "Yes, he expects me!"

Appropriate orders to finally put himself at the head of his army and to go into battle and to bring it to an end had arrived in the last few days.

Richard was only too aware that the renewed battle with the rebels would be different from the last one. 

There would probably be a real battle and he had to realize that he had not been given strategic skill. His advisers had to work out the battle plans entirely on his own, and he had tried not to be too ignorant when he turned something in from time to time.

"You'll make it!" Niona tried to encourage her husband, even if she didn't really want him to succeed. 

Quietly, she hoped tha

"I'm sure I'll be back, Niona! Then we will get another heir for my throne.... and I will not eat any more food and, above all, no wine when I go to you," said Richard, visibly trying to sound brave. At the last words, however, he had cast her a questioning and almost angry gaze, which made her shrug together.

So he actually suspected something.....

Richard took his helmet in his hand and left the room to lead his people into the fight against the mountain rebels.

"I would like to know what happened to Fredric," Niona thought sadly, because, unlike Richard, she was really very worried about this, and she did not want to fall off the horse and certainly not to be captured in the hands of his enemies....

She, together with some servants, watched her husband as he left the city with his soldiers and went into battle.

Richard's path also led him past the cemetery where the remains of the executed were buried as he left the city.

"There lie Bran and my sister's husband," he thought, shuddering, and did not dare to look at the walls that surrounded the cemetery. He almost feared seeing Bran or Dario stand there and mock him.

He swallowed heavily and he closed his eyes. Perhaps, according to an old Arunian faith, it actually brought misfortune to see the graves of his defeated enemies before going into a fight.

"The old superstition is that the spirits of the enemies will haunt the victor in the next battle and bring him to himself.... but that's certainly nonsense..." thought Richard, and a shiver ran over his back. 

t he would fall off the horse or fall into the violence of the mountain rebels...


	44. The Battle, Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, a first decision is slowly but surely pending. There will be a fight. But how will it end? Who will win? This is what you will find out in this and the following chapters.

Norian went up and down nervously. Two days earlier, refugees who wanted to join them had told them that an army was approaching them.

Surely the people in his fear had built up the situation a little and the soldiers had appeared much more than they actually were.

Nevertheless, many soldiers approached them and their numbers were indeed frightening. From a distance, they looked like black ants gathering on an opposite hill and preparing to attack.

"We are in the undernumber," Norian thought, addressing his people. "Now there is a fight earlier than we would have thought. I knew it would happen one day...."

The men remained silent. They all carried weapons with them and the magicians stood a little off the others.

Norian turned to her. "The healers among you will hold back two-thirds. But some of you will be close to the men and you will take care of your injuries during the battle. The other healers will be outside the battlefield and will also take care of the wounded.... and the fire magicians, like some healers, will mingle among ordinary fighters."

Norian was aware that Richard would probably use magicians again for his purposes. 

But he hoped that some of them might be overrun.

"For the most part, they don't help him voluntarily! That could be our big advantage," he said, with a hint of hope. 

In the last fight, they had also been able to find some valuable allies who had previously served Richard, even if the price had been high. They had lost their leader Bran and Norian had to do his best to replace him.

Richard's troops approached the village of the mountain rebels and in the distance they saw the smoke from campfires. Apparently, their enemies were getting ready for the battle and were already waiting for them.

This circumstance made Richard swallow. So they would not be able to meet the mountain rebels suddenly and surprisingly.

This would have been of an unspeakable advantage for the king and his people. But somebody, a defector, perhaps even the peasants who saw them, had rushed to the rebels and betrayed them.

"I would like to know who dared to do this! I would let them hang on the next tree," Richard grumbled anthem.

But he knew that to do so, he would have to win the upcoming battle.

"Majesty, they are over there!" said an older captain, riding to the king's side. "Will you lead us into battle? This would leave a lot of impression on men...."

"No!" Richard hurriedly disagreed, but made a great effort not to act like a coward hiding behind his people. After all, that was not the case.

He was the king and he was important....

He was the last to fall in a possible battle that now seemed inevitable. Who but him should rule Arunien? But basically his kingdom was indifferent to him. He wanted to rule there as king, yes. But even more he wanted to stay alive.

The idea of finding himself soon in the midst of a battle in which he was fighting with sharp weapons frightened him, and he pointed to a young healer who was unsettling and standing nearby with chains on his hands and feet.

"I have shown you mercy and taken you out of prison. Otherwise you would have been executed a long time ago. Now you can thank me! You will stay near me all the time and heal all the wounds I suffer immediately!"

The young magician nodded insecurely and made a request. "For that you would have to let the chains take off me.... otherwise I can't help you fast enough if you get hurt!"

Richard turned red in the face and raised his hand to beat the magician. "You criminals dare to make such demands....

"He is right, Majesty!" said the elder captain softly to his king, giving the impression that he doubted his mind.

Eventually, Richard reluctantly gave in, while the centurion looked at him thoughtfully as his king rode past him.

Norian hoped Richard would make a crucial mistake, but it didn't look like it yet.

Closed, the king's troops marched toward them, or should this prove to be a mistake?

Norian turned to one of his people who rode next to him. "We should attack them from the sides. In this way, we can encircle them.... and they have given up their advantage. You come to the valley..."

He was aware that he had chosen the wrong choice of words. He didn't sound determined enough, and that made him angry. Maria would probably have made a better impression in his place, and Bran would have liked to do so.

But now it wasn't about sprinting on anyone, it was about winning this fight. 

With renewed determination, Norian turned to his people. "We will encircle them!" he shouted with a loud voice. "And we will defeat them!"

"Yes, we will," the answer sounded from several throats. "We will drive them out and defeat them."

"And then we will move on to the capital!" cried Norian, giving in to an impulse. He had already thought about this possibility, in the event of a decisive victory...

He hoped that more parts of Richard's people would run over to him and that the people would join him.

But first it was necessary to win this battle and Norian knew that he and his half-brother Richard were hoping for the same thing at the moment, each one for himself. 


	45. The Battle, Part II

Richard's army and Norian's mountain rebels, whose numbers were a little smaller than the king's, approached each other and Norian saw that Richard was leading his troops into battle. This surprised him. Had his captains persuaded the king to do so?

Richard had never shown such courage on his/her part. Or had he still set his mind to become a great general and thus enter into the history of Arunia?

Norian was determined to do everything in his power to prevent this.

"Even if he wins the fight, he will not go down in our history as a great king. You'll probably still call him "Richard the Creep," Norian said with a nervous laugh. He, too, was concerned about the prospect of the impending fight. 

The outcome was uncertain.

Richards and Norian's troops approached and eventually faced each other. Norian could even see the facial features of his half-brother and his captains.

Richard worked.... Anxious. Or was Norian mistaken? Did his half-brother fear the battle even more than he did?

"That suits Richard the creep," Norian muttered, and saw a young man riding behind the king. 

He was wrapped in shabby clothing and his face had some bruises. Was it a prisoner? The uncertain gaze that the man cast towards the king spoke in favour.

"Another person who has to help him! Nevertheless, we should be mindful of him. If Richard keeps him so close, it will have a good reason," Norian thought, taking a deep breath.

They would take the first blow in this battle....

Richard clutched the reins of his nervous horse, which appeared to be infected by his rider's behaviour, with wet hands when he saw his enemies galloping towards him and his people.

Captain Ruben, who had ridden next to him and had criticized a decision from time to time, approached him, but it was only on the third attempt that Richard responded to the man's question.

"What did you say, Ruben?"

"I asked what your orders are! The archers and the magicians are waiting for your sign!" said Ruben, but Richard remained silent. 

Instead, he turned to the captive healer." Isn't there a way to make me invulnerable from the start?"

The healer shook his head uncertainly. "No.... that's not possible!"

Angry, Richard raised his hand and foretold the impending fight for a moment. 'You can't do that? Are you actually a healer at all? I will execute you all after the battle, in the worst way you can imagine. And I will start with you..."

The king noted with satisfaction that his words unsettled the healer, and even more satisfied he saw that he seemed to be looking for a way out. Insecurely, the young man looked around. Well, he wouldn't escape....

Captain Ruben reached for the king's arm. "Majesty, now is not the time to deal with the magicians or plan for the future! We have to win this fight.... and need you as commander.... don't you understand that?"

Richard's anger grew even more. How did the captain speak to him? Why didn't he pay him the respect he was entitled to? He was the king of Arunien, and not a stupid recruit, did Reuben not understand?

"Never talk to me again in this tone!" shouted Richard, pulling out and sraming his clenched fist in the captain's face.

Ruben held his bleeding nose while the other captains and several soldiers looked at Richard in horror from the bleeding.

"What's the point now....."

The rebels had reached the king's troops and both armies clashed.

Richard screamed in horror as a spear drilled into his thigh. A rider had stabbed him with this, nor the fact that Ruben put down the man and his horse diminished his pain. He waved at the healer.

"Make yourself useful if you don't want to die right now!" roared Richard, and he felt his injury heal as the young healer bent over his leg.

But real relief did not want to spread in him, because even though his bodyguards formed a protective ring around him, he felt horribly defenceless in the midst of the battle raging around him.

He was looking for an escape route when the battle broke out over him and he realized the seriousness of the situation.

At one point, he didn't care what King Leopold thought of him or who would win it. He just wanted to leave.

In a panic, he gave his horse a kick and galloped, with his rider clinging to him on his back, through the protective ring of his bodyguards, hoping to leave the battlefield without being injured any more.

Norian looked after the galloping king and gave one of his magicians, Joris and three young men a wink. "Follow him... somehow endure him. A victory over Richard could decide the outcome of the battle...."

Despite everything he knew about his half-brother, Norian was astonished by his half-brother's escape. Did he actually let his troops down and began fleeing the flag like a simple soldier?

Norian repelled a blow from one of the king's captains and saw his nose bleeding.

"Your king has fled," Richard yelled at the man, and he nodded, and hesitated with another attack.

"Your king is a coward..... we could end this whole battle.... negotiate...."

The captain nodded and raised his hand. "We really should do that.... stop the fighting.... we can no longer serve this king...." 


	46. Richard's Escape

Richard had left the fighters behind. He would do anything to escape the horror that had begun around him. Why was it necessary for him, as king, to join in the battle? Why had Captain Ruben not been able to lead the attack?

When thinking of the captain, anger spread to Richard. Hadn't he made it to take his place anyway? Did Ruben even want to be the new king of Arunien?

"I will execute this traitor! I will have them all executed and in the future I will only surround myself with absolutely trustworthy people. And Niona will also pay me for the fact that she deceived me... somehow she has. I don't know exactly how yet, but I'm sure she's not loyal to me!"

He imagined how he would execute his wife, Queen or not. He had become tired of her and he would look for a new wife. New captains and a new woman....

"This traitor," Richard raged, looking around in panic. 

He was persecuted, and it was not only his enemies who were behind him. He also saw that the fighters had laid down their weapons.

"They are all traitors," Richard roared, kicking his horse violently into the side. "Run faster!"

Richard saw that an abandoned village appeared in front of him. Would he be able to hide there? He was hoping for it....

The thought that his pursuers would search the village for him did not come to him. He was too inspired by the desire to hide and escape as quickly as possible. He would think about everything else later. Later, when he was back in his rightful seat on the throne. Then they would all pay. Everyone who had deceived him...

Richard rode into the abandoned village and jumped down from the back of his horse. He kicked his foot hard and screamed out his pain. 

He saw that the village was far from deserted as he had believed, and a terrible suspicion came to the king. 

Was it the village in which the mountain rebels had sat down? But this could not be, the village was certainly better fortified, was it?

Now Richard saw that he had been mistaken. In his blind rage he had ridden through a wide gate and some men with swords came towards him.

"I sat right in an enemy nest," he thought, pulling his sword. Uncertainly he fiddled with it, he had never been a good fighter. But he didn't have to. After all, he was the king and he let fight.

"Stay away from me! I am your king! Don't touch me!"

"Bran's killer!" a woman's voice screamed, and Bran saw a woman he knew only too well to come upon him.

"My father's whore! And later Bran's whore!" he thought, looking around for an escape route. He did not want to fall into Sarina's hands.

"She's going to cut me to pieces," he said, and he would have preferred to have begun to come up with cruel punishments for sarina. Penalties to which he would subject them as soon as he sat on his throne again, as the victor of course....

Richard stormed towards the door of a hut and he hoped not to encounter heavily armed men inside.

At last luck should be weighed again, he had no idea that it was the last time....

Only two young women were in the hut and he stormed towards the first of the two, with a sword drawn, grabbed her wrist and pulled her to his house.

"Fleur....," shouted the other young woman unsettled, but Richard pressed his sword to the neck of his captors.

"Don't do stupid things, or I'll kill the little one here... Of course I will anyway. And you too..."

Marie did not know what to do when the stranger pushed her sister out the door and looked mockingly at the gunmen who rushed in. "I'm going to kill the little one here if you even look at me the wrong way.... So, is it worth anything to anyone?"

"He's insane," Marie said, but feared that in the worst case, no consideration would be paid to her sister. What if they attacked the man and Fleur was injured or even killed?

"Who is this madman?" thought Marie with a hint of despair, while the man fortunately at least did not seem to pay any more attention to her.

The young healer looked at a cape lying on the floor. Underneath was a dagger, earlier she had carelessly dropped her cape on it, when she and Fleur decided to wait for the outcome of the battle together and later to see the wounded together.

The weapon actually belonged to Joris, but he had left it to her before he went into battle. She didn't really want to accept it. What should she do with it? She wasn't a fighter...

But now she reached for the cape and carefully pulled out the dagger. She hid him behind her back and sneaked up on the man, who was still holding her sister tightly. 

He, meanwhile, pressed the blade of his sword more firmly to Fleur's neck. "Disappear at last! I will now leave the village with her. And then.... I will be her.... kill... Release! I give you my word on it!" the man cried, looking threateningly into the crowd.

Marie sneaked closer to him and he drove around to her. "I'm going to kill you both!" he said with a vicious glitter in his eyes. But it wasn't just malice, it was madness that shimmered through there.

"We... "You will not do anything that you do not want!" said Marie softly, but the man laughed and held the blade of his sword a little higher and cut Fleur in the cheek. She wanted to scream, but he put his hand on her neck. "Keep your mouth shut...".

He and his captors turned again to Sarina, who marie could now recognize, as well as the other gunmen who remained in the village.

'I'm going to kill her now.... Right away! If you don't let me go!"

"Never! If you let them go, maybe we'll keep you alive!" shouted Sarina, but the man laughed. 

"No, you're lying. I don't believe you anyway. A woman who engages with a married king and then his bodyguard is untrustworthy!"

He pressed his sword tightly on Fleur's neck and the sharp blade scratched her skin. "I'm going to kill her...."

He didn't seem to mind the fact that he lost his hostage as a result, and Marie made a decision when she heard her sister whimpering. 

She pulled out the dagger behind her back and stormed towards the stranger. She thrust him into his neck and the man dropped his sword and his captives before he collapsed, groping for his neck.

Richard felt the pain in his neck and couldn't believe it. She had attacked him, him, the king of Arunia. She would pay for it. He would execute them as soon as he saw her again in his capital. Together with all the others who had deceived and betrayed him....

It got dark around Richard. Was it night? At one time, he had to deal with fear. Would Bran, his would-be brother Dario, and others he had justly punished wait for him? Would his father blame him?

"I... idon't want to...," he muttered, before it became completely dark around him.

Fleur stumbled a few steps ahead, straight into Sarina's arms, which she caught.

"You have to heal the wound on your neck, child...," Bran's widow said, as Marie bent over the man who had broken down.

"I actually got him with the dagger....," she thought, terrified of herself. She hadn't actually done that, didn't she?

"That's Richard the creep!" said Sarina, and Marie shook her head in disbelief and groped the man lying motionless. She wanted to heal the injury she had inflicted on him. But it was too late. She had actually killed him. Trembling, she groped her sister's hand, which crept towards her.

Sarina, meanwhile, also bowed over the dead. "The King of Arunien is dead... now we have to win the battle!"

She looked up to heaven and wished, at one time, that Bran was now by her side. A strangely empty feeling spread into her. Richard's death did not bring her back. 


	47. Guilt

Marie didn't notice too much of what was happening around her. They had won, or rather, Norian, the leader of the mountain rebels, and Ruben, one of the king's captains, had begun to negotiate.

Even before his death, Richard had been unsustainable, and the news of his end had spread very quickly in Arunien. 

While still on the battlefield, the two enemy troops had laid down their weapons after the king's death became known. Especially the enemy magicians had pushed themselves on the side of the mountain rebels and only sporadically there had been soldiers who tried to prevent them from doing so.

Various rumours about the former ruler's death have now been circulating in the country.

Some said that Richard, like the generals in ancient times, had found death heroically fighting, but did not want to and could not believe this version.

Another version of the story about the end of his life said that he fell off the horse and broke his neck. This was more believable, while others said that Richard had been killed by an enemy when he fled cowardly.

Sure, this last story closest to the truth would have angered the dead king and led him to some execution orders, but now he could no longer disagree when mocking songs about "Richard the Creeper" rang out.

Now the former king's troops were in the village together with the mountain rebels and shared the campfires and their food. They tentatively approached each other, and many seemed willing to change the situation in the country.

Marie looked up as Joris entered her hut and sat next to her on her bed. "You haven't come out for days.... no one blames you, on the contrary, most consider you a heroine. Those who know what you have done..."..."

"I killed someone... I'm certainly not a heroine!" said Marie unhappily. "I am...."

"You saved your sister! What else should you have done? If Fleur had died, someone else would have killed him. You'd probably be much more unhappy because you'd have lost your sister!" said Joris in a serious voice.

Marie knew he was right. Nevertheless, her feelings of guilt, which she had caused since King Richard's death, made her feel. She could not reconcile her deed with what she thought of herself and connected with herself. She was not a warrior. And certainly not a murderer.....

"We are talking about Richard the creep, not a poor confused man who got lost in your hut," Joris said, but Marie shook her head thoughtfully.

Wasn't Richard basically that? A confused man? In the end, he had no longer been the master of his senses. Marie's thoughts were over.

"I will have to live with what I have done for the rest of my life, Joris. You see it differently. You have already killed men in battle.... men may think differently about it than most women. Maybe I'll be different from the other women in terms of something like that.... but I still wish it had been different...."

"Then you wouldn't mind that Richard is dead if, for example, Sarina or one of the others had killed him? If anyone else had done it in your place?"

Joris looked at her seriously. "Think about it. Then you would have everything... Your sister would have been saved and you wouldn't have to fight your nonsensical guilt! That would be the ideal solution, wouldn't it? You don't care that Richard is dead. You care that you were the one who did it!"

Marie shrugged, but had to be right about Joris in silence. And after a brief moment, she struggled to get an answer.

'It really makes a difference to me whether I'm killing someone or someone else is doing it. I feel.... dirty."

Joris did not know how to excuse Marie's feelings of guilt, even if some of him understood her very well. 

She had already had enough difficulty accepting her magical abilities and now the death of the king was added....

'I hope she'll be able to cope at some point. Nobody blames her... on the contrary, if someone had defeated the king on the battlefield, he would probably have entered the history of Arunias as a hero...."

Captain Ruben, who had returned to the capital, bowed to Queen Niona.

"Norian, the leader of the mountain rebels, and his people will be here very soon. Parts of the army have joined him after your husband...."

Niona nodded in silence and looked at the man in front of her thoughtfully. She did not know whether death would bring her unloved husbands an improvement in the situation in the country or a deterioration. What about King Leopold? Did he know about Richard's death? And would those who now opposed the existing rule also fight against Leopold in an emergency, should he decide to put his stamp on Arunien again?

She herself would probably no longer be Queen of Arunien and she hoped that she would be able to withdraw in peace with her son.

'Maybe now is the time to admit it's not Richard's child. Some of his opponents might otherwise think of taking revenge on the poor little one," she thought, looking at Captain Ruben inquiringly. "You said that parts of the army and the population had joined Richard's enemies.... are you talking about yourself?"

Ruben looked to the ground, the question was visibly uncomfortable for him, but then he struggled to get an answer. 

"Yes, Majesty. I joined them as well.... will you give us the capital? Or should there be fighting in the streets? We should avoid that!"

Niona shared the man's view. Richard's reign was finally over. Maybe she would meet Fredric again, maybe there would soon be a new king for Arunien. 

But her time as queen was also over for good....

**In the country, of course, a lot will really change. Some questions remain unanswered. Who will be in charge in the future, how will King Leopold react, what became of Marie....**

**And now the second part of this story begins, even though I have put it all together in one story.**


	48. Departure into a new life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter is now taking place here, even if it has become a little shorter. But it was important to me to bring this storyline to a (hopefully good) end.
> 
> So have fun reading.

Fredric embraced Niona. She wore a simple dress and barely noticed among the mountain rebels who romped in the corridors of the royal residence. A young mother holding a small child on her arm....

She would leave the capital and return to her parents' home. Now the only question was whether she would do so with or without Fredric.

"It could be dangerous for you to accompany me," she said, smiling at her long-missing lover. 

"People don't really believe that the little one is your son and not Richard's."

Fredric gently stroked his young son's cheek, even if there were still final doubts about fatherhood. 

They shared a mole that was in the same place, well. But otherwise the little one, who now put a finger in his mouth, came entirely after his mother. 

But did that make a difference? Basically, the uncertainty didn't really bother Fredric. He was happy to be reunited with Niona. A few days ago, they had fallen into each other's arms and at first could not really believe in seeing each other again.

It was probably his child and his decision to accompany them to the family of the former king was certain.

Little Richard laughed at Fredric and he just had to reciprocate that hearty laugh. No, this boy didn't have too much of Richard the creep in him, even if he was his child.

"We should leave as soon as possible!" said Niona softly, leaving, as unobtrusively as possible, the corridors in front of the chambers of the former Queen of Arunia. The new rulers would now settle there, and she left nothing to be hold of.

"Do you think they're going to make Norian king?" asked Niona as they walked down the aisle.

Fredric shrugged. "Beautifully possible. Many are in favour. Some speak for Princess Mary, but she is untraceable. And I don't think she would be a good queen either!"

Astonished, Niona looked at the man who was walking by her side and was now holding her son by the arm. "Not a good queen? I always thought.... she is an opponent of Richard...."

Fredric hesitated with an answer. "She was an opponent of Richard, yes. But otherwise.... now, after the death of her husband, she has changed much to her disadvantage. She was very vindictive.... and then left us. She hasn't returned to us yet and who knows what happened to her!"

Fredric and Niona rode through the capital shortly afterwards. The former queen had pulled the hood of her coat deep into her face, she did not want to be recognized by angry citizens of the city who had suffered under Richard's rule.

"They won't do you anything!" promised Fredric softly, reaching for Niona's hand. She gave him a smile as her young son leaned his head against Fredric's shoulder and fell asleep.

There was a thumb in his mouth and the young mother was glad that he didn't understand what was happening around him. 

She was even more pleased that he seemed to feel comfortable in Fredric's arms, who was his father.

"I hope the prisoners will recover from their difficult time!" said Niona after a while as they crossed the city gates. 

Fredric nodded. "I think so. The healers take care of them, many were able to return to their families! The poor could almost not believe it...."

In the capital of Arunia there was an almost exuberant atmosphere for several days, some people with magical abilities, who had previously hidden them, already discussed the founding of a school for magicians. 

Magical abilities should be trained in the future and no longer hidden.

"A wise decision," Niona thought, recalling that young healer whom Richard had instructed during the battle to stay close to him. He had not expected to be able to return home alive, but had also been able to reunite his family. He was one of those who had already made plans for a magic school.

"Hopefully it will get really better," Niona thought, turning to Fredric. "Richard's mother sadly passed away a few days ago after learning of her son's death. It is said that before her end she cursed Norian and wished him all the bad things if he became king. Understandable from their point of view. She could never resign herself to the fact that her husband once humiliated her with his lover, Sarina. Still.... this threat is scary to me. Her other daughter stayed in the monastery...."

Fredric advised Niona not to give too much to the former Queen Mother's threat. "She was dying and was bitter.... I don't really believe in curses....."

"I'm not so sure," Niona disagreed as they left the city to join her 

to break up a common, hopefully peaceful life. 


	49. A new ruler?

Two months had passed since her victory over Richard, and Norian was, in the eyes of many, even if never an official coronation had taken place, the real ruler of Arunien. 

Nevertheless, it was rumoured that it would be better to substantiate the claim to dominion with a coronation.

So far, no reaction had been made by King Leopold, but one day one of his messengers rode through the streets.

"Before this, Richard the creep is said to have always cuddled!" said a young man when he saw the messenger and handed over his horse to a servant.

"I want to work with this... Bastard of a former defeated king!" he said in a mocking voice.

Nevertheless, he seemed more insecure and he felt visibly more uncomfortable than on previous visits. Richard had crawled before him and especially his master, King Leopold. But would Norian, the new would-be king, do so? 

The messenger walked silently through the corridors, trying to ignore the soldiers who accompanied him in a disinable manner. 

Would the new ruler sit on his throne and, like Richard, try to feign strength? A strength he didn't feel and didn't radiate at all?

"He is the half-brother of this coward! Of course, as a family member, he won't be much different! I don't need to worry. Only one creep was exchanged for another, even if King Leopold has his doubts and strengthens his army!" thought the messenger, as he was led into a room he had not yet known from previous visits.

Richard had always welcomed him to his throne room and tried in vain to radiate power and authority. His half-brother did not seem to follow this example.

'He's not going to be much different! It's a family," the messenger thought, disapprovingly, as he entered the small and not so impressive room.

A table stood on a wall and on it some books and scrolls piled up, also on a shelf several pieces of paper had been stuffed into it.

Two young men stood in front of it, apparently trying to bring something like order into it. The messenger did not know either of them. Were they staff?

"I am sending a message from my Lord, the great King Leopold!" said the messenger with a loud voice, in order to make his voice heard and to leave no doubt as to who was still in charge in Arunia.

The two men turned to him. One of them approached him. "The messenger of King Leopold?"

The messenger nodded. "Yes, and you should treat me with respect, lad. I would like to work with the half-brother of King Leopold's faithful subject Richard, this one.... Bast... speak to this Norian!"

"Then you mean me!" the young man said with a mocking smile, overdoing the insult, which angered the messenger even more.

"You are Norian? I had.... expected something different!" the messenger stiffly stated.

Norian nodded approvingly. "Yes, I think so. Probably an image of Richard politely licking your boots and pushing a pillow in your back so you can sit comfortably."

The messenger shrugged. In the same way, he had imagined the reception, and it had been so far every time he visited the previous ruler of Arunia.

Norian continued to speak happily. "Then I should give a few compliments about King Leopold from me. And to ignore the fact that he executed my father and invaded my country, isn't it?"

The messenger looked at his counterpart furiously, and from moment to moment he became more and more aware that the customs in Arunia had not changed in his and especially King Leopold's favor. 

Well, he would have to negotiate with this bastard of a king, even if he could hardly take him seriously as a ruler and above all wanted to.

"Well, I will now convey to you the message of my king, the great Leopold!" said the messenger, looking at Norian in a challenging way. "And you will do well to follow his instructions!"

"Oh, will I?" asked Norian just as challengingly.

The messenger was annoyed. Richard the Creeper would have stood in front of him long ago and asked him to deliver the news of the great Leopold. Of course, he would have promised to follow his instructions carefully. But this bastard of a would-be king was completely different.....

Above all, this upstart would certainly not like the instructions he gave. Looking forward to Norian looking at the messenger and again much the difference between the half-brothers.

According to the clothes, Norian could well have been a slightly higher-ranking servant. He had thought of it first. Richard, on the other hand, had always worn precious jewellery and precious fabrics on his body.

Looking forward, Norian looked at the messenger. "Well, you just said I was following the instructions...."

"Yes, you will. King Leopold lets you know that not much will change! However, you will not rule here as king or anything like that! She would hand over power to a man he had chosen. Someone he can trust..." said the messenger, trying to make the tone as condescending as possible.

"Do it or risk a war that you will of course lose. Do you want to end like your father?"

Norian shook his head, even as his eyes flashed furiously as the speech came to his executed father. "Whether I would lose a war is not certain... but that is not the point. Return home and greet King Leopold. He shall stay away from Arunia, otherwise he will regret it. And of course none of his people will sit on the throne here...."

Angry, the messenger turned away and left the room. He suspected that he would not be given a cosy room and a good dinner, as had always been the case with previous visits. 


	50. Sarina's Request

Joris was very satisfied with his young student. He had just set fire to a small pile of wood.

"That was very good, Tobias!" he praised, but his words could not put a smile on his student's face. 

He sighed. Tobias still hadn't been able to make friends with staying with the former mountain rebels, but they didn't want to let him go.

Especially since the young man's magical talent was discovered, he was prevented from leaving and he still felt like a prisoner. He couldn't really trust his "prison guards." They healed kindly towards him and promoted his magical abilities. But couldn't that kindness change again?

What happened when they faced him again as they did at the beginning? Tobias had not forgotten the "reception" of the mountain rebels, especially the Marias, and did not want to.

Only the regular meetings with the young healer Fleur represented a ray of light in his life.

She visited him almost every day and sometimes even attended the class. Still, there were so many things he didn't understand. Why didn't they let him go? It couldn't just be because of his newly discovered magical abilities. Others also owned it and were not taught or taught elsewhere.

Why was he the only prisoner who remained one even after the end of the fighting? Unfortunately, no one answered his questions or seemed to know the answers.

"What do they want from me?" he asked the young healer again that day, as she sat opposite him in his room. It had been placed in a comfortable room, which was functional but comfortably furnished. In other circumstances, he would certainly have felt comfortable....

Fleur shrugged and couldn't suppress a sigh. He asked her this question almost every time, and she had never been able to give him an answer, however much she was looking for it. 

'I don't know.... it is said that Sarina Norian should have advised to do so.... but I don't know what she has to do with you, and she certainly won't tell me!"

Asked, she looked at Tobias. "Do you know them from somewhere? Have you ever done anything to her?"

"No, I don't know her.... In any case, I do not remember them. I spent my life with my family, with my parents. I haven't seen them in a long time!"

Angry Tobias hit the window sill with his hand.

Norian, in addition to all the problems that the domination of Arunien brought with him, also wondered why his mother had insisted on keeping Tobias close to her.

He remembered very well the day when Mary had injured him and he was lying on his bed in the hut of the small village.....

Sarina had visited him anxiously and sat down with him at his bed after the two healers, Marie and Fleur, had left the hut.

_"How are you?" asked Sarina, worried. "What really happened? I heard that Mary had left the village. And little Fleur told me you were hurt!"_

_Norian nodded. He had felt it necessary to at least tell his mother the truth. "Mary attacked me. She's... insane."_

_Sarina reached anxiously for her son's hand. "It was about this prisoner, wasn't it?"_

_Norian shook his head. 'No, it wasn't really about him. It was just the reason for a new dispute between us. There have been disagreements between us for some time. She still suffers from Dario's death...."_

_"And I under Brans!" Sarina interrupted her son, and a bitter smile scurried over her lips. Even if.... but that doesn't matter.... at least I do not react like Mary and lead you all into the doom with my vindictiveness!"_

_The widow of the former leader of the mountain rebels turned her gaze and wiped her eyes._

_Norian knew that she was as much suffering from her husband's death as Mary. But the two women dealt with their grief so differently._

_Sarina pressed her son's hand again and her tears disappeared from her eyes. "We now have to make some decisions. I suppose you're going to lead the mountain rebels now?"_

_Norian nodded, even if he didn't know what exactly the future of the mountain rebels would look like, he would now have to make some decisions._

_But something else was on his mother's heart. "Before I learned that you... injured, I saw after this prisoner. He is being treated well and he will recover from Maria's abuse... but I would like to ask you for something.... don't let him run or something like that! Make sure he stays here, in all circumstances!"_

_Norian had not planned to let the prisoner go for the time being. After all, the prisoner had a good reason to pass on her current whereabouts, as far as it was still unknown, as well as further information to Richard. Nevertheless, he marveled at his mother's request._

_"Why shouldn't I release him for obvious reasons?" asked Norian, but Sarina shook his head._

_"It's important.... I will explain it to you later.... but not yet..."_

_Sarina had also been unable to get an answer for further enquiries on his part._

Norian remembered this conversation very well, even after they had returned to the capital, Sarina had asked him to keep Tobias. 

She pretended it would be due to his magical abilities, but he knew that was not the real reason. 

Norian looked at a scroll that dealt with the tax assumptions of recent years. There were so many other problems to solve, so many things to consider. There had not yet been any reaction on the part of Leopold to the unfriendly reception given to his messenger. Surely something else would happen there.

In addition, there would soon be a small coronation ceremony with all the necessary witnesses. Norian wanted to underpin his claim to leadership in Arunien, and a smaller coronation ceremony seemed to him to be a good compromise. 

'I don't like such celebrations. But it has to be," he thought with a wry grin. 


	51. The Queen Mother

The coronation ceremonies, which took place on a small scale at the request of the new King of Arunia, were in full swing. Nevertheless, Norian, coercively, wore his best clothes and the court tailor stood satisfied at some distance. It had not been easy to get the new ruler to cut them. With Richard, who had been much more vain in this respect, at least these difficulties had not existed.

For this, the hard-working tailor had always been afraid of making a mistake in the choice of colours or cutting and being thrown into the dungeon as punishment, as had happened to an apprentice two years ago.

"Everything has its advantages and its disadvantages," he thought contentedly. Basically, his life had become much safer and more comfortable since the change of power had taken place.

Sarina watched the celebrations and a smile surrounded her lips and she held a speech with the late King Marius, Richard and Norian's father. "You wouldn't have thought that, Marius, wouldn't you? That One day Norian will become king of Arunia...."

She and her son had always been those who, during their rare visits to the court, were seen with admiration or contempt. 

And now the servants who had mocked her in King Marius's time paid her great respect. Some buckled in front of her as soon as she entered the room and she didn't know if she really liked it.

From the secret lover she had risen to become the mother of a king.

But what did the people who once despised her really think of her? Probably their prestige had not increased in their eyes and they only set their flag on the wind.

"If I had been brought here as a prisoner, they might even have thrown stones at me," Sarina thought, and decided to visit someone. 

She would visit a prisoner after the coronation celebrations had ended, and she knew that she could not postpone this for too long. At the same time, she was afraid of it....

Tobias looked up when the door to his room, which was assigned to him inside the fortress, opened. He was expecting a visit from Fleur and he had decided to be a little kinder to her. 

He liked the young woman and had pushed her in the head often enough in the past. She didn't deserve that.

He rose and smiled at his visitor, but his kindness disappeared when he realized who was entering the room.

The king's mother, the woman to whom he owed it, that he was still a prisoner and he was not allowed to go...

"What... Do you want to be here?" he asked, and was well aware that he was very rude towards her. But he didn't care.

The Queen Mother did not address the unkind reception, but instead looked at him with an expression on his face that astonished him. Was it really something like..... Concern? Regret?

He had to be deceived. "What can I do for you?" he asked, however, a little more politely than before. Perhaps he would get at least a few answers.

"Are you doing well here?" Sarina inquired, and Tobias almost disappeared with good intentions to behave as politely as possible. The Queen Mother could not really take this question seriously.

Eventually, he decided to answer honestly. 'I'm treated pretty well. At least no one is hurting me any more. No one stabs me in my arms with a knife or holds burning logs at my feet! That should be an advantage!"

Sarina looked at him compassionately and even briefly reached out for him, but Tobias actually took a step back.

Sarina's gaze became sad and he wondered why. What did the new king's mother care about how he was doing?

"I know that you weren't treated very well at the beginning. But we're trying to make it good again. You get a good lesson, clean and good clothes and are well accommodated. You're probably better off now than you were when you had to serve as a soldier against your will!" said Sarina, interrupting him as he tried to reciprocate.

"We treated you very badly at the beginning, or rather, one of us did it. I'm very sorry about that and I'd love to make it uneven, whether you believe it or not.'

Tobias looked at her with a cold, dismissive look and Sarina shook her head sadly. "I can see that you don't believe me."

She rallied again and her gaze became a little stricter. "But now you're not feeling bad with us anymore. I said it already. A little accommodating from your side wouldn't be wrong!"

Tobias did not answer, but just stared at her angrily and finally Sarina gave up her attempt to get closer. "I will be back in a few days. I hope we get along a little better...."

Tobias wasn't sure, but were there really tears in her eyes? He didn't understand it and eventually turned away as she left the room. "I must have been mistaken. Why would she burst into tears because of me? This hypocrite. All of them.... are hypocrites...."

But even if Tobias thought the former mountain rebels were hypocrites, he could not help but even like some of them by now. There was his "teacher," Joris. 

And, of course, Fleur. When he thought of her, there was even something like a smile on his lips. Still, he wouldn't be locked up in the capital forever. At the next opportunity he would dare to flee again and this time it would succeed. 


	52. Mary's Refuge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here, too, there is now a new, slightly shorter chapter. Do you remember Princess Mary, who fled the village of the rebels?

Mary dragged the bucket of water into the small hut she had found weeks ago in the deep forest. This place had proved to be a stroke of luck for the young woman and she appreciated having found a place to stay.

The hut had been lying abandoned and when Mary opened the door, the half-western corpse of an old woman lay on the ground.

Mary had dragged the remains of the ancients outside and buried them there. Who might have been them? A hermit who no one missed? Had she been happy with her life in the forest? Mary did not know and would probably never know.

Luckily, the lonely deceased had left her a fully furnished dwelling, even a small stable was next to the hut and so Mary was able to accommodate her horse, the only living being that was close to her at the moment.

Until now, only twice had travellers got lost to her, so King Marius's daughter had learned what was going on in the country. 

Richard had been defeated and her brother Norian ruled the country.

These messages delighted Mary, even though she had initially noted her joy with astonishment. HadN't Norian been her enemy in the end? But then she realized what this news really meant to her. 

Richard, her husband's killer, no longer lived and had found an end to his deserved, in her eyes. She didn't know which version of his death was true, and basically she didn't care.

Mary had found a little peace after she knew that the man who had her dario on her conscience was no longer alive.

"Norian will be a good king," she thought, pouring a tea after heating the water over the fire.

Life in the forest was hard, but it kept her breathand occupied her. Nevertheless, she came to reflect on her life and fate, and her grief for Dario finally got the space she was entitled to. Sometimes she spoke to him and it almost seemed to her that he was answering her.

She smiled as she thought about how much she would now like to offer him a cup of tea.

Mary also wondered if it was possible that the dead man could actually hear her. Was there anything else after life was over? A life after death? Many people in Arunien believed in it, but she was not so sure.

"I'd love to believe it. I'd like to think Dario is somewhere where he's good. But I just don't know!" she thought as she drank her tea.

She let her tears run free, here, in the seclusion of the forest, she did not need to hide them and not to be ashamed of anyone for her weakness. On the other hand, no one comforted her, but this would not have been possible and she would not have really allowed it.

No, there was no consolation for their loss and would never exist. But wasn't there an old saying that pain never passed away? But that you would get used to it over time?

She did not believe in this old wisdom, but still could not imagine that one day she would feel her sorrow less strongly.

After all, her desire for revenge had subsided since she received the news of Richard's death, and on the one hand it was a relief. On the other hand, her desirefor revenge had distracted her from her suffering.

She knew there was no going back for her. They would no longer be welcomed by the mountain rebels, or rather the former rebels who now ruled the country. It had been her own fault, she was only too well aware of it. 

Her mother, too, was no longer alive, as she had learned, and this was another person she mourned, even though they had not always been close.

Mary was glad that her half-brother had survived her attack, and she also knew that she had crossed a line that would separate her from her remaining family forever.

"I really lost everything," Mary thought, but then laughed briefly as she thought that there had been better times for her, too.

Had they and Dario not been happy together, even if they had only been allowed to do so for a short time?

How many people never found someone they could love and were happy with? At least the beautiful memories remained for her....

"Dario would not have been happy with what has become or almost become of me," Mary thought, rising. She opened the door and looked out into the night that was slowly breaking in over Arunien.

She did not know whether there was any place for her in this world at all, or if she did not fare much better to remain in her self-chosen hiding place in the forest.

Perhaps at some point, under a new name, she could start anew, even if she didn't really want to believe in it at the moment.... 


	53. Escape

Tobias sneaked through the dark aisle, hoping not to run into the arms of a guard. 

Fortunately, they didn't seem as hard as they were in King Richard's time, but he didn't want to take any risks.

The first hours he had spent in the violence of the mountain rebels were still too much in his mind. 

These images could not be pushed out of his head and still filled him with bitterness. 

No, there were some things he didn't want and couldn't forgive, however much he sometimes tried to do it. 

Tobias sneaked quietly and finally reached a window that led down to the courtyard. 

Unfortunately, the doors were still guarded, even though attention had waned.

So he only had a leap into the depths and he hoped not to break any bones in the process.

"Now it would be very convenient to master healing spells! What's the point of the cursed fire!" he thought, sitting on the window sill to wait for a favorable moment.

Unfortunately, two soldiers were patrolling down there and he had to delay his escape plans for a moment. But then the two men moved away and Tobias breathed a serene breath.

He stretched his legs out of the window and took all his courage before jumping.

Tobias came up with one foot and he suppressed a painful outcry only with great difficulty.

"That was to be expected!" he annoyed himself. 

He just lacked that, that he didn't get too far due to a simple injury and was caught again.

Tobias leaned against the wall as he limped forward. Slowly he moved towards the stable.

  
His plan was to steal one of the horses, even if he saw it as an ugly description of a necessary evil, and, wrapped in the cloak of the guards, to leave the city.

It was not uncommon for soldiers to leave the city, and basically no one was prevented from doing so.

Why? After all, unlike in Richard's time, there were hardly any prisoners left and those who were were quite well guarded....

"And I was one of them, even if the guard was not so strict," Tobias thought as he reached the stables.

Relieved, he approached a horse box with a large rap. 

"You come with me," Tobias muttered softly, grabbing the horse by the reins shortly afterwards and leaving the stable with him.

He had previously taken a cape that hung on the barn wall on the hoe. Some of the guards put parts of their clothes there when they took their horses to the stable and this circumstance now turned out to be Tobias's luck.

Sighing, Norian looked at his mother. "This Tobias has fled! Joris wanted to look for him again to prepare a magical exercise with him. He fled... we were probably a little careless. Well, I'm already looking for him, so he shouldn't get too far..."

Sarina nodded silently and looked at her son anxiously. She had already suspected that there were difficulties when he entered her bedroom.

She still hadn't been able to get used to the luxurious accommodation..... "But your people shouldn't bend his hair! Can you promise me that? Nothing must happen to him!"

"Well, after the behavior of what he leans on the day and after his rudeness towards you and Joris, I would prefer to have him put in chains in the dungeon... Just for a few days, so that he realizes that things can't go on like this....," Norian said half-heartedly.

Such behaviour did not seem to him to be really just, after all, the captured magician had reasons for his negative behavior. Nevertheless, Norian was gradually tired of having to get annoyed with this one. Were there not enough other difficulties he still had to settle?

At the moment there was a relative peace in the country, but it was only a matter of time before King Leopold struck!

"You can't do that!" countered Sarina anxiously. "Please, don't do that."

Norian shook his head with a tired smile. 'I'm not going to. But I would still like to know why you are so keen to find Tobias and that we treat him well.... what is it about him? You owe me some explanations!"

Sarina nodded and finally gave herself a jolt. "You're right. I'll tell you!" 


	54. Sarina's Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we continue with a new chapter and you learn something from Sarina's past and a secret is revealed. A secret that Sarina has been burdened for a very long time and also casts a somewhat gloomy light on Norian's parents...

Looking forward, Norian looked at his mother as she searched almost desperately for words. 

"It's not easy for me to say what I have to confess to you," she began, but he briefly pressed her hand. "It can't be that bad! Besides, it's not about you, it's this annoying Tobias!"

Sarina shrugged when her son called the young man "annoying." Those words seemed to hit her and hurt her.

"But it affects me and, in a sense, you too!" Sarina answered earnestly, almost asking her son for forgiveness.

"Please tell me!" Asked Norian again, and finally his mother gave herself a jolt. "You were four years old at the time... you will certainly remember that I... sick for a while and then very sad... when I lost my baby..."

Norian shrugged. He remembered that time, even though he was very small at the time.

In fact, his mother had been expecting another child, and his father, King Marius, had been with them many times, and he too seemed to rejoice.

"You're about to have a little brother or sister," he had said, saking his son's hair while looking at Sarina affectionately....

"You were looking forward to a child. But then it came too early and it was dead....," Norian recalled. "Of course you didn't fare well after that! You never wanted to talk about it, even later when I was a little older and asked you. You always became sad and I didn't ask any more. I understood that it was too close to you. But what... has this to do with this Tobias?"

Why did his mother now speak about this old, sad story? Why now, when she hadn't done it all these years?

The child didn't die at the time. She was born after nine months and she was a pretty, healthy little boy!" said Sarina quietly, her son shrugging. Many questions swelled on him and a suspicion began to germinate. 

"But... Why... and what happened to the child? And is it... Tobias?"

The new king's mother nodded depressedly. "Yes, he was... rather, he is. He already had this mole on his right ear... it is quite unusually shaped... and have you seen his left hand? He hides it very well, but he lacks the fingertip on the ring finger... that was already the case at his birth! And I called him Tobias!"

Norian remained silent. The story his mother revealed to him was just too incredible. He tried again to remember the time when another child had been on the road. His mother had been unhappy for a long time and he too had felt a disappointment not to have a little sibling. A sibling who perhaps allied with him when the sneaky Richard was once again mean to him....

"And this Tobias is my brother!" he said with a firm voice. Now he wanted to know the whole story.

'Why didn't he grow up with us? Why did you give him away? You have already raised a bastard of the king. Whether one or two, people's reaction would have been the same...."

"That's not what it was about!" sighed Sarina. 'But your father didn't want me to keep him. He wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible!"

"But he was looking forward to having his second child!" said Norian, astonished. "I really don't understand that!"

"There was a reason for this," Sarina said. "And I am ashamed that I did not keep the little one anyway and prevailed against your father!"

"What was the reason?" Norian, still incredulous, chimed in. So he actually had another brother...

"If what my mother tells is true, then he is also Mary's brother. And she treated him so horribly!" thought Norian, knowing that this circumstance could well stand in the way of a happy family reunion.

The memories seemed to weigh heavily on Sarina, but she was still smiling wistfully. "Your little brother was so... Sweet. I didn't mind that he was missing a fingertip and this time I just found his tiny ear adorable. Marius also thought similarly... but then a blanket, in which he wanted to wrap the little one, caught fire, and he almost dropped him!"

Sarina swallowed heavily and tears ran down her face. "Your father pressed your brother in my arm and looked at him at once, anxiously... and then his hair caught fire... Marius deleted it very quickly with his hand, but he almost saw our son... hateful...."

"Magic?" asked Norian, who became aware of what his father had so disliked about his brother that he no longer wanted him to have father's happiness turned into rejection.

Sarina shrugged. "Yes, magic. Fire magic. Sometimes it shows up in newborns, but disappears after a few hours and then returns when the children or young adults are able to control them... at Neugebornen it is still uncontrolled..."

Norian felt at one time something like anger rising in himself. Anger at his father, but also at his mother. So so heartless did they deal with a child?

"I know I've heard about it many times.... and my father did not tolerate the magic. He wasn't as bad as Richard in terms of that. But he didn't want to raise a magician's child, didn't he?"

Sarina nodded sadly. "No, he didn't want that. He turned away and said I should get rid of the little one somehow. Like, he doesn't care.... he would continue to take care of you and also for me, but this child must disappear...."

"And you gave him away?" asked Norian. "How could you?"

"I didn't want to take your dad from you at the time, and I didn't want stupid chatter about him," Sarina recalled of what happened at the time. "What would that have looked like? The king has created a magician's child? No, it wasn't allowed to be.... and there I gave your brother to the midwife who had helped me at birth. Your father pressed a purse in her hand and asked her to take the child away. I asked them to find a good home...."

Norian began to walk up and down the room. "Why did you never tell me later?"

Sarina looked at him sadly. "The memories hurt too much. I didn't even tell Bran. And I was ashamed too.... a woman who simply gives an infant away because he is a magician's child, he would not have wanted to have by his side. And I didn't want to burden you... not even later, especially since I had no idea where Tobias was. But then I saw him, then, after Mary had done him so badly..."

"And there you saw the thing with his finger and his mole on his ear. And at some point he called his name at least once. Then you found out his exact age and it was finally clear to you!" Said Norian, sighing, but then shaking his head.

"However, it was wrong not to say anything for so long. This has made everything even more difficult...." 


	55. After Sarina's confession

Tobias was relieved when he got off the back of the horse he had stolen. 

"In the past, horse thieves were hung directly on the next tree when they were caught. I hope this custom was abolished under the new king," he thought, feeling a little uncomfortable at one time, but then shrugged.

The most important thing was that he had managed to escape and that he was now hopefully, at least as far as possible persecutions were concerned, to be safe.

"She would hardly send out half the army just to look for me! They have other concerns at the moment," he tried to encourage himself a little, but this was very shaky when he appeared with his injured foot.

He hoped that it would not end up being a break that would make life difficult for him and, above all, his further escape.

"At least you won't be seen as wrong anymore when you inquire about a healer who knows magic in a village! Such a person can treat a break much better than an ordinary healer who is especially familiar with herbs," thought Tobias, who was well aware of the advantages of the reign of the new king.

Nevertheless, he was determined never to return to his prison guards...

Even the next morning, Norian had not been able to fully process what he had learned from his mother.

He could not reconcile her behaviour with the image he had of her. She had always been a good mother to him who had done everything for him. She had been waking up at his bedside for days when he was sick and comforted him at night when nightmares plagued him as a child.

She had bravely fought her way through his and Bran's side as they fled to the mountains and had a happy marriage with the former leader of the mountain rebels.

And this woman should have just given away a different, much smaller child? It was like disposing of something annoying that bothered her and her lover, the King, in their lives and upset their worldview?  
Nothing, but nothing at all, in his view, had indicated that she was keeping such a bitter secret.

Every now and then there had been moments of sadness in her life, Norian remembered, of course. 

But he had always pushed this on to her not easy situation as the king's mistress. Added to this was the grief for the child who died too early and already at birth...

The child who had been born healthy and cheerful and who was now an adult young man....

"How could she do such a thing? Why didn't she take both children and leave him? Did she really worry about me? But... I would probably have grown well elsewhere, maybe even together with my brother, who only has to hate us all!"

No, he just didn't understand his mother, but apparently she was no different. This event really seemed to have cast a dark shadow on her and overshadowed her life.

Well, at least on this point he could understand them. 

He was particularly angry with his long-dead father. The good King Marius, whose reign was already celebrated as a golden age in return for Richards, had a child who was annoying to him simply eliminated.

"It wouldn't have bothered him if Mother had drowned the little one in the river! The main thing is that he was no longer bothered with it! He was a weak, superstitious man who put his country in great danger by his refusal to let magicians fight for himself! No, he was not a great king, albeit better than Richard! But there is no reason to put it on a pedestal and worship it, as the stonemasons are currently planning. 

In fact, the stonemasons of the royal workshop were currently building a still image depicting King Marius....

Fleetingly, Norian thought of having this work stopped. On the other hand, the people needed their heroes to look up to.

Fleur swayed her arms as she entered the dark garden of the royal residence. 

The day would soon begin and they were still searching in vain for Tobias.

She was sad and also a little disappointed. So he had left and she was left behind....

"I was hoping...," she thought, but then shook her head. She didn't know exactly what hopes she had hoped for. Probably she had only talked that he felt something for her.

Most likely Tobias didn't waste any more thought on her, why? They hadn't really gotten closer, there hadn't even been a kiss between them.

She heard footsteps behind her and saw that the king's mother, Sarina, had also gone into the garden despite the late hour. Fleuer hesitated a little before joining Sarina's side.

"Queen Mother.... that somehow doesn't fit her at all. I still know them from the time in the mountains. Then... She wasn't royal yet and I think she felt more comfortable in spite of everything. But at the moment she seems to be really in a state of grief!"

"Get it... Well?" Fleur asked for a moment of silence, and finally Sarina shook her head. 

"No, I'm not doing well. Many years ago, I did something that turned out to be wrong in hindsight. And I'm afraid it might have cost me two sons..."

Astonished, Fleur looked at the other woman. "Two sons? But you have only one son, Norian!" she said, unsure, but Sarina shook her head again. "No... I have another son... Tobias!"

Fleur was stunned to hear the story that the Queen Mother had recently entrusted to her son. She seemed relieved to be able to tell her story to someone else.

"But then you have your child.... "But tried not to sound too reproachful?" asked Fleur.

Accusations didn't get anyone any further, and Sarina asked her, "I don't want this story to make the rounds yet. I told you because I observed that Tobias is close to you.... before his escape..."

"Unfortunately not. I'm not close to him, even if I would have liked it!" replied Fleur sadly. 'But he doesn't want anything to do with me.' 


	56. Rising calamity

It had not been possible for the soldiers of the new king to find the fugitive young magician. His escape seemed to have succeeded and the soldiers had not wanted and should not have resorted to the methods that Richard would probably have used. They had refrained from searching the homes of the city's inhabitants, especially since it turned out that a single soldier, allegedly on Norian's behalf, had left the city.

Was this man Tobias? The description provided by the gatekeepers at least pointed out that a horse from the stables was missing.

Resigned, Norian took a seat in an armchair that once belonged to Richard. 

Of course, this piece of furniture was very comfortable and in silence Norian was grateful to his unloved half-brother for the first time in a long time for his desire for luxury and convenience. Sometimes this also had its advantages.

The king had not been able to find sleep during the night, and even though it was not the first restless night he had spent in his life, he had never done so for such a reason.

He didn't want to stop the search, but didn't Tobias have to feel like a wanted criminal? 

Basically, they hunted him because he belonged to the family – and not because he had let himself be a little too indebted, except for the horse theft, to which Tobias had only been driven by his captivity.

"There is no reason, apart from the family situation, to send half the army after him," Norian thought resignedly, shaking his head when one of his captains asked him if they should continue the search.

"No, stop the search..." he said with a heavy heart, hoping that he had not seen Tobias the last time.

Somehow the matter had to be resolved, if only they owed the former prisoner an explanation for why they had held him for so long against his will.

"Whether he will understand it better or even forgive? These revelations will certainly make things worse for Tobias!" thought Norian, depressed as the captain left the room.

He was leaning back into Richard's armchair when the door knocked and Joris came in.

"What is there?" asked Norian, trying to put his thoughts on his family circumstances into the background. There was no time for that, there were more important things to consider.

Luckily, Joris also came to the bottom of his appearance." There is very bad news! We received a message from Commander Brian... he is stationed at the border...."

"On the border with King Leopold's kingdom...," Norian muttered, and Joris nodded. "Yes... the messenger rode for two days, his arm was completely exhausted, and he fell into my arms when he fell off the horse. But he gave me this message!"

Norian took a parchment roll and unfolded it. Resigningly, he dropped them on the table after reading the contents twice.

"Well, sooner or later that was to be expected. Apparently.... King Leopold strengthens his troops and an attack is imminent!"

There were many things to discuss, but basically their tactics were already established. 

They would confront the troops and, unlike the last time King Leopold invaded the country, this time they would use magic.

Norian knew that this fight would be much tougher than the battle they had fought against Richard.

King Leopold's soldiers would not stand up to their ruler.

Norian wondered how big the army with which the enemy king attacked would be.

Would there be messages beforehand urging them to give up? Or would he attack the country immediately?

"We have to go to the border and prepare everything for it!" said Norian, addressing Joris, who nodded approvingly. "Will we take the fire mages and the healers with us?"

Norian nodded. "Of course! We will not repeat my father's mistake! This time King Leopold will not have such an easy game with us."

He hoped that he would be able to put into practice this intention not to make it too easy for the enemy ruler.

"That won't please Marie," Joris thought, and another, even more frightening thought came to him as he left the room.

"She will probably want to accompany me to support the other healers. And her sister will probably accompany her too!"

In fact, Marie reacted with horror to the news Joris brought her. She put her arms around him, and the death of the former king, for whom she was responsible, still stuck in her bones.

"I had hoped so much that it wouldn't happen or that we would at least have more time before we started again! I... I'm not ready yet!"

"I don't!" joris replied softly, holding her tighter in her arms. "But unfortunately we are not asked...."

"Then there will be a lot of suffering again soon. Many will be hurt or die!" said Marie sadly. "And I'm going to have to worry about you again!"

"I will take care of myself!" promised Joris, making a weak attempt to persuade Marie to stay in the comparatively safe capital.

"There is no way to persuade you to stay here?"

She shook her head. "No, they don't exist! I will definitely accompany you. And my sister will also come along. Fleur and I have already talked about it. In case there is a fight, we will accompany the healers and help as best we can!" 


	57. The battle is imminent

Two weeks had passed since news of a possible imminent attack reached the capital of Arunia.

Norian and his troops had gone to the borders and the rumours had unfortunately been confirmed in a frightening way.

A smaller enemy unit had tried to cross the border the day before and the first fighting had taken place.

Norian's soldiers had been able to push the enemies back, and now a messenger Norian already knew rode into his camp.

It was the same arrogant man who had paid tribute to him shortly after his arrival in the capital, and who was accustomed to the ruler of Arunien creaking before King Leopold and thus also before him.

"That's how you see yourself again!" said the messenger with a sneezed and he had put on a condescending face, but Norian was determined not to be intimidated and he marveled at the man's lack of memory. 

Had his last visit with him not remained in good or rather unpleasant memory?

"I suppose King Leopold sent us a message?" Norian asked the messenger a question that was more of a statement, and continued, "On your own initiative, someone like you will not come to us. You shouldn't have the authority to do that, don't you?"

The messenger looked at Norian angrily and realized that he would not crawl around on the ground like he did last time before him or King Leopold.

Nevertheless, he was and remained determined to deliver King Leopold's message "appropriately".

"You should not become too haughty," the messenger said, warningand and quietly, but Norian shook his head. 

"And you should not forget that you are talking to the King of Arunia! With the king of a country that is no longer a province from which King Leopold can make use of!"

The messenger shook his head and bowed a little. This gesture alone raised the need in Norian to punch the guy in the face, and for a moment he deeply regretted being the king of Arunia. 

As the ruler of a country, he could no longer afford such behavior...

"The fact that I am king protects you right now....," he said, and the messenger shrugged briefly before reciprocating: 

"Arrogance comes before the fall! If you put your head on a block, you will think again of my words!"

Norian quietly hoped that these words were not a prophecy and that it would not end like this.

"What message does King Leopold have for me?" the king of Arunia asked instead, and the messenger finally came to the reason for his coming.

"He orders you to welcome him alone, only with your bodyguard, as a guest at the border! All your people will be subordinated to him in the future, and you will resign your office as king. Someone else will take your place!"

"And nothing else? I shouldn't also send my clothes to King Leopold? Or knock ingly my head and give it directly to you?" Asked Norian, while the messenger looked at him angrily, but also at one point.

Norian continued to speak.

"Return to your Lord and judge him that I do not want the fight. He should withdraw from my country and stop threatening it. And if he attacks it, we will defend Arunien by all means at our disposal!"

The messenger looked at Norian uncertainly, apparently afraid to deliver such a message to King Leopold. "Is this your last word?"

  
"Yes, that's my last word!" Norian said goodbye to the messenger, making it clear to him that the conversation was over for him.

"You will still be sorry, you little bastard of a weak king!" the messenger muttered, but so quietly that Norian did not understand him.

Norian, on the other hand, was well aware that this impending fight, which could no longer be avoided, could also go badly for him.

Fleur and Marie, together with the other healers, had set themselves up in need.

They prepared to take care of a large number of astonished, and the thought of the likely battle that was imminent caused the sisters stomach pressures.

"It's going to be bad," Marie said, and Fleur nodded depressedly. She, too, had gloomy forebodings that she hoped would not be fulfilled.

"We're going to win!" she tried to encourage herself and her sister, but she shook her head.

'That's not what it's about. Or not only. Even if we win, there will be deaths and injuries! Many of those we know could die or be seriously injured!"

Fleur, who knew how much Marie suffered from such things, took her hand. "Well, that's why we're here. We do our utmost to ensure that things don't get too bad for our friends. And the same is true of the other healers. We are all doing our best.... and we can't do more!"

Marie eventually agreed with her sister with a sigh. "Of course you are right. Nevertheless, I do not like the idea that it will soon be teeming with the injured and that we may not be able to help some of them, however much we try!"

"I also hope that it will be the last battle," Marie replied, fleetingly believing she was a familiar face.

But she was sure she was mistaken. Why would Tobias, whom she believed to have recognized, go to the camp of the people he hated so much and with whom he wanted nothing more to do?

"Did you see Tobias?" she asked her sister, but she looked at her in amazement. "No, I didn't.... why should he be here?"

Fleur shrugged and looked around, but was now finally sure to be mistaken.

Instead, she followed her sister Marie, who wanted to visit her companion Joris. He had taken the lead over the Mages, who would use fire magic in the upcoming battle. In addition to the magicians they had brought with them from the capital, a few volunteers arrived and Joris wanted to test their skills to see how they could best be used.

Some healers who had previously secretly worked in the villages before Norian's rule had also arrived by now. They, too, wanted to defend the newly won freedom that had existed in the country for some time by all the means at their disposal.

No, they were not alone and they found great support, at least in their own country, yet the memory of Leopold's past battles and victories remained in disrepute and everyone hoped that the enemy king would not be able to repeat these victories.... 


	58. The truth

  
Fleur sat down at one of the many campfires that had been erected in the army camp and closed his eyes for a brief moment.

She felt tired and exhausted, and she remembered that her actual work had not yet begun, but preparations for a battle demanded a lot from the healers.

Two soldiers had started an argument out of arrogance and probably also out of nervousness, inflicting stab wounds to each other's arms and legs, and Fleur and another healer had taken care of the injuries.

"I think most people would prefer the battle to start quickly. So that it's over quickly," she thought with discomfort.

She knew that her sister Marie did not share this view at all and was probably most afraid of it by all the people in this camp. 

"Poor Marie. I hope she never has to experience and participate in something like this again," Fleur thought pityingly, displacing her own fear of the events ahead.

She opened her eyes again and let her eyes wander around. Soldiers rushed through the camp and from everywhere she heard shreds of conversation.

Two fire mages, at least they thought they were there, stood in front of the tent they had pitched for Joris, and they apparently wanted to offer their services, while a third man stood inconclusively behind them and did not really seem to know whether he should go in or not.

Fleur looked at the man more closely, something seemed very familiar to her and then came a suspicion! Was it perhaps Tobias, whom she thought she could see?

She had to find out, even if she asked herself why. 

After all, Tobias didn't care about her, the delicate friendship that had developed between them during his stay in the capital, he had trampled underfoot and it meant nothing to him.

She rose and rushed towards the man wearing a hooded cape and grabbed his hand. "Tobias?" she asked, and he drove around to her. At least she saw that she hadn't been wrong.

"Fleur... just your mouth. I don't want to find myself in a cage or anything like that just because I was stupid enough to let myself be swarmed to come here!"

  
"Then we should go somewhere where we can speak in peace!" said Fleur, pulling Tobias, who eventually gave up his resistance, behind him while holding his hood and hoping not to be recognized.

"Well, what are you looking for here?" asked Fleur, adding. 

"You were in such a hurry to leave us. I was very sad about that.... but it doesn't matter. You don't care! What do you care about who you hurt?"

"I came to help!" Tobias told her young woman. "And yes, I didn't think of you when I left! I couldn't have asked you to come along! You wouldn't have let me go, but betrayed my escape plans!"

"Yes, I would have!" replied Fleur softly, but then added: "Maybe not.... I don't know. I also wondered why they wanted to keep you there. There was really no reason to do so, other prisoners, who once did not fight voluntarily on Richard's side, were let go. But now I know the reason..."

Tobias held the young woman's arm tighter, but then let her go when he saw that he was hurting her. 'Sorry, I didn't want that. But what was the reason? You know him? Then please tell me, I need to know!"

Fleur hesitated to tell him what she had learned from Sarina. But didn't Tobias have every right in the world to know the truth? Wasn't he doing much more than anyone else, and wasn't it wrong that she knew more than him? 

"I'll tell you.... but please do not be evil to me..."

"Dir? Whatever it is, hopefully you can't do anything about it, right? You're unlikely to insist that I stay..." Tobias replied, looking forward to it.

"I was glad you stayed, though not voluntarily," Fleur admitted, but then became very serious. "You have a family...."

"Of course I have a family," Tobias said, looking at her in amazement. "They are not my biological parents, my mother died at my birth and a midwife took me to my parents, but.... of course they are my family!"

"Yes, they are your family. But I know who your real mother was or is. She didn't die at your birth!" Fleur began by revealing to Tobias the truth about his origins....

After she had finished, the young magician looked at her in disbelief. "The king's mother is also my mother, and my father was King Marius? And they didn't want me with them because I...... that's who I am?"

He looked bitterly at the young woman. "Well, that suits them. That's exactly how I experienced it. Cruel and heartless, even facing a small child!"

"King Norian is not like that. And Lady Sarina was always very friendly!" resonated Fleur, adding quietly: "Why did you come in the first place? You had already escaped!"

"I wanted to help! The news was about that magicians were still being sought. And it goes... after all, not only mine.... so-called family. But all over Arunien, to all of us. I do not want this country to be conquered again by King Leopold. Even if I don't want to have anything to do with them, under the new king we are much better off than under Richard and Leopold!"

"I'm sorry," Fleur said. "But you were fine with your foster family, didn't you?"

Tobias had to agree. "Yes, I was always fine with them. But that is not the merit of my biological parents...."

Fleur hoped that, despite the bitter truth he had now learned, he would stay and help. They could use another magician with his skills well and she hoped for himself that he would stay. 


	59. Hope for a reunion

Sarina went up and down in her chamber of the fortress in the capital. She disliked the fact that she had to stay behind and she felt very uncomfortable in her skin.

She was supposed to stand by her son's side and prepare with him for an upcoming battle, which a messenger had told her about. But Norian didn't seem to want her near her, not even he had asked her for advice since he left, something that had been different in the past.

At that time, in the village of the mountain rebels, she had sent him several times news, when he and part of the rebels had already left the village and had begun to recapture the surrounding land.

This time it was different and this circumstance hurt Sarina, at the same time she was very worried. 

Wouldn't their dispute end up hurting the whole country? Some of the servants had already expressed their confidence in her and hoped that her son Norian, but also her, would lead people in these difficult times.

"You will suspect that something is wrong, that there is a rift between us. And once they learn the real reason, they will conclude that we are no better than Richard! We are no better people than him....," Sarina thought sadly, wishing once again, not just for this reason, to keep her child at the time.

But it was too late for such accusations and she decided to do everything she could to support her other son, Norian, to the best of her ability, and if only the administration of the capital, until he hopefully returned victorious....

Sarina decided to visit the cemetery of the city. The remains of Bran and the other executed were brought there, they did not want to let them rest with the actual criminals.

Not long after, Sarina stood in front of Bran's grave and placed a bouquet of flowers on the stone on which his name had been carved. It was a magnificent tomb and she wasn't sure if he would have liked it.

But the stonemason had made great efforts to pay homage to the new royal family, so that they could not refuse his work without insulting him.

A servant waited at a reasonable distance so as not to disturb Sarina's relationship with her dead husband.

"Bran, I don't know if you know what's going on right now. Maybe you know all the things that the living keep quiet about when you're dead.... and I don't know if you would have forgiven me for what I did. Surely my second son wouldn't have bothered you, and as with Norian, you probably would have been the saddest that it wasn't your child..."

No, she didn't know how he would have reacted if she had told him the truth and would probably never know, at least not in her own lifetime.

Fleur and Tobias sat a little away from the hustle and bustle of the camp and he still hadn't taken off his cape, too much fear of being recognized by the wrong people in the camp.

"Fleur, you said you wished I would stay?" tobias asked, a little insecurely. "You didn't know that I was leaving?"

Three soldiers rushed past them and Tobias lowered his head. They waited until the men had gone further and the young woman was given the opportunity to think about her answer to Tobias's question.

"Yes, It made a difference to me, even though I sometimes wonder why. You never showed me that you even like me a little... very rarely. Maybe you were only kind to me because you hoped that I would help you with your escape!" said Fleur, and this idea hurt her greatly.

"That's how it was.... but that wasn't the only reason I was nicer to you than to the others. But I just didn't do well there. Sure, I was treated well, except at the beginning. But no one told me the reason why I should stay there and I didn't know what to do next. I just wanted to leave," Tobias replied thoughtfully, then carefully stroked over Fleur's arm.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you. You were one of the few there that I certainly didn't want to hurt and that I would have liked very much in other circumstances."

"I liked you too," Fleur muttered. "But what next? What are you going to do? Will you help in battle and, if we win, get out of the dust?"

Tobias nodded. "Yes, I actually had something like that. I will leave forever as soon as it's all over. I will go to the people who raised me. They are my family....."

"And there is nothing to convince you otherwise? There is no reason to stay?" asked Fleur, depressed, but then forced himself to smile. "But I have a request to you, at least say goodbye to me this time!"

"I will!" promised Tobias, her hands touching as a loud scream rang out.

A rider galloped into the camp and jumped off his horse. "The time has come.... they attack earlier than expected.... it comes to fight!"

Excited, people began to run and talk, soldiers reached for their weapons and the healers rushed between them.

Fleur sat that Joris, accompanied by some fire magicians, rushed away and Tobias let go of her hand. "I will join them... see you when it's all over...."

Fleur looked after Tobias while her sister Marie rushed towards her. She hoped they would see each other again.... 


	60. The Battle of Arnunia

King Leopold and his opponent Norian saw each other only from afar. Their two armies had lined up on two hills, and Norian knew that the other king was not particularly unsettled, that his people had not succeeded in beating prematurely.

Far too quickly, Norian's soldiers were ready to face the enemies, but now they had regrouped and waited for the order to be attacked by their ruler.

"Probably he's angry at the moment that Norian, the little bastard, didn't let himself be overrun as easily as he hoped," Norian thought, but he didn't joke.

No wind moved and the sun shone, even though it was spring, mercilessly hot from the sky, at least Norian felt that way. 

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a savior almost relieved when he saw Leopold's soldiers pulling.

Waiting for a fight was worse than beating them....

Someone had told him this once, was it Bran when he told him about the first fighting king Marius, who had once fought against Leopold? 

Norian didn't know for sure, but he knew that the result of the battle this time had to be different than last time.

Marie, Fleur, and the other healers did not have to wait long for the first wounded to be taken from the battlefield and entrusted to their care.

"Fleur, please help me. This leg wound is so deep!" Marie, who bent over an injured person, called her sister to help.

Fleur, who had just healed the deep scrapes on a soldier's forehead, rushed to her sister's side and looked closely at the wounded. 

She admitted that with each of the men they were brought to them, she looked closely at who they were.

So far, none of those close to her had been among the injured, and this gave her a little reason to hope.

But Marie understood, albeit unintentionally, to take away her hope. 

"If Joris is not with the wounded, then this can mean anything. He may be fine, or he is already dead and they have seen it as a waste of time to bring him here!"

"You shouldn't see everything so black!" Fleur replied, briefly tied, because she didn't like the second option at all.

She wanted to see all those who were close to her healthy and healthy again.

Norian pushed an enemy soldier, while Leopold gained more and more ground."I'm afraid we'll have to pull back!" he muttered, repelling another attack with his sword.

Nevertheless, it turned out to be fortunate that this time they had not renounced the help of the magicians. Without them, the fight would have been lost a long time ago, even if Leopold's magicians clearly seemed to be in the majority and in some cases better educated.

"Again, a omission that my father has to write on the flag," Norian thought bitterly.

His once high opinion of his father had changed drastically in recent years, when they hid in the mountains and also after the information he had received about his younger brother.

Unfortunately, there was no point in quarreling with the long-dead father in spirit, now it was necessary to make up for the failures he had on his conscience and, above all, to not let them be to the detriment of this battle.

Four soldiers rode towards Norian and he saw that King Leopold was among them. 

He himself had only seen the ruler of the neighboring country from afar; on the contrary, he had never had the dubious pleasure of getting to know him personally.

Leopold towered over Norian by at least one head, and despite his age, his hair and his beard were already grey, he did not appear frail or sick.

This man had already passed the flowering of his years, but in silence Norian was glad that he had not had to compete against him twenty years earlier.

"You outrageous little upstart!" Leopold shouted challengingly as he stopped his horse in front of Norian.

"You think you can challenge me? You will wish that you had responded to all my conditions when I am done with you and you are in my dungeon. And believe me, your execution will not take place as quickly as that of your father, who was still the rightful ruler of Runien. As such, he deserves a minimum of respect, but you.... who are you?"

"The King of Arunien!" answered Norian. "And even if you are right with what you say, I have more rights to the throne than you!"

Leopold shrugged, but did not go into Norian's words. Instead, he drew his sword and made another demand.

"Give up! We will end this battle and you will give yourself up. I will keep most of your soldiers alive, just you and your captains... have it executed. Maybe even fast...."

"We will not give up!" a voice shouted, and Norian saw Joris, along with three of his magicians, riding on him.

He looked at King Leopold, and at one time his cloak caught fire.

One of his bodyguards quickly extinguished the flames, and another looked at Joris, whose hand caught fire.

"He has magicians in his bodyguard!" thought Norian, while Joris, his face filled with pain, tried to extinguish the flames and the three other magicians focused on King Leopold and his bodyguard.

Leopold shook his head and looked contemptuously at Norian. "You will not defeat me. Your magicians..... will not survive, they are not up to mine!"

Norian's magicians screamed as all of her clothes went up in flames. They threw themselves on the ground and tried to put out the fire, but Norian saw another young man approaching from the side.

He recognized Tobias, who must have been in the wake of Joris....

"What is he doing here?" thought Norian as Tobias bowed to King Leopold. "I am.... related to him. I would love to be your servant... like Richard...."

"What? But...," Norian began, but then remained silent when Tobias actually waved to him briefly. Did he just play this? In any case, Norian responded and a thought came to him. 

Had Fleur not, barely noticed by him, spoken to a young man wearing a cape? Norian didn't attach any importance to that, but did he know who he was? Had she told him?

"Traitors! You seem to come to Richard and be like him! And that's what my brother wants to be!"

"Why not? You can see where it leads when you get on with the big Leopold! How can you squande only one kingdom.... dear brother?" Tobias asked mockingly, and he turned again to King Leopold. 

"Once you have defeated him.... I just wanted to say that you can count on me if you let me live and take me into your services!"

"I'm going to think about it... but you say you belong to the family? Who are you? Another bastard of Marius?" asked Leopold, and he laughed as he gave his guards a wink to let the young man through.

"Well, I'm going to think about what I'm doing with you. I might really use you....."

Tobias nodded and he stretched out his hand. He touched Leopold's chest before he or his bodyguards could react, and the next moment the king screamed. "My.... Heart... mine...."

Qualm rose, even if there were no flames, and Tobias collapsed when one of the bodyguards slapped his sword on his head....

Norian, on the other hand, was approaching King Leopold when one of the bodyguards attacked him. He quickly struck with his sword and the fire magician fell fatally to the ground, while a loud scream rang out:

"King Leopold is dead...."

But the soldiers of the dead Leopold were not as easily defeated as the men of Richard, who had been largely happy to be freed from his rule.

Fleur and Marie had heard the news of Leopold's death, but unfortunately the battle raged even further, even though from time to time there were reports to them that Leoplod troops were now withdrawing.

But the fight had not yet been won and the sisters did not have much time to think about it, because they brought more and more injuries.

Fleur was terrified when she recognized Tobias and Joris, but while the latter was already doing better, Tobias's head had a deep wound and she didn't know if she and the other healers would be able to heal it....

Joris, on the other hand, sat up after a while and he looked at a bandage on his arm. "That's going to happen again, isn't it? It would have... could get worse.... Luckily we were able to extinguish the flames on our clothes..."

Marie nodded and stroked gently over Jori's cheek. 'We've healed it as well as we can, but burns caused by fire magic aren't as easy to treat. Ointments and tinctures have to be made. Luckily, we still have enough healers here to understand...."

Joris did not answer, but he jumped out of bed, with Marie's help, when a soldier entered the tent.

"Leopold's captains are ready to negotiate.... they were pushed back.... as it stands, we have won!"

Marie closed her eyes tiredly as Joris put her arm around her. "We won... it's over now!"

"I hope so!" Joris replied softly. 


	61. Debate

Norian sat in the tent where the wounded had been housed, and he bent over his still unconscious younger brother.

A bandage had been wrapped around his head and several healers had tried to heal the injury, unfortunately all efforts had been in vain so far.

"I almost think he doesn't want to wake up," said Fleur, who also sat at Tobias Bett holding his hand in her.

Most of the wounded had been cared for and the dead buried. They would be put up with a memorial and Norian rose with regret. 

"I have to negotiate with Leopold's nephew Ludwig. He will probably take over now, but he is different from his uncle. He wants to... that we make peace and so far he has not been able to prevail. But that is likely to change now, because some members of Leopold's Crown Council are on his side!"

Joris, unlike Tobias, had largely recovered from his injury and he, together with Marie, went through the camp.

"I didn't even know that Tobias mastered this complicated spell! In a way, he verbed Leopold from the inside..."

"Stop!" asked Marie, shuddering. "Leopold was not a good person and in the end luckily it went very quickly for him. Still, it's just horrible and I don't want to have to experience it again. I know that sounds painful, especially I wasn't even there. But I have taken care of the wounded and I also know what a battle can do!"

Joris put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to her." I understand you, Marie! I will never tell such things again, promised. And if everything goes as we imagine, there will be no more fights."

Sarina hugged her son Norian when he welcomed her, but the welcome was not as warm as it was in earlier times.

"You should have stayed in town," Norian said, and he broke free from his mother's embrace. "There's still a lot to settle before we can go back and I need you there!"

"I'm sorry," Sarina replied. "But I had to come and talk to you. I also know that I have other commitments, but I have put everything into good hands and I will not stay away for long!"

"So you came because of me," Norian said. "It gnaws at you what you have done and you hope for my forgiveness! Well, it's not up to me to forgive you. You should especially apologize to Tobias if he is still able to hear it."

Sarina shrugged. "Tobias is here?"

"He is the one who ultimately killed King Leopold!" replied Norian. "We owe our victory to him. But he is not doing well and the healers do not know if they can still help him. They say he has to wake up to that. Then there is reason for hope. But he has been unconscious for a very long time and therefore he could not eat food. He won't last long!"

"I want to go to him!" asked Sarina, but she could see that Norian was not impressed by this idea. "Whether that will help?"

"I know," the Queen Mother replied depressedly. "Of all of them, he will probably be the most evil to me! And surely he helped in the fight against Leopold only because he hates him even more than we do...."

Not long after, Sarina entered the tent where her youngest son had been housed. She saw Fleur sitting next to the unconscious man's bed and gently slaps his cheek.

"It doesn't look good, doesn't it?" asked Sarina quietly, fleur raising his head. "No, it doesn't look good. But i...."

At one point, Fleur wrapped Tobias's head and she placed her hand on the wound that she and the other healers had not been able to fully heal.

'I'll try again. We have nothing left to lose!" she said, focusing on Tobias's injury.

Sarina saw that Fleur's hands were shaking and her face pale, but the young healer did not let herself be distracted by her intention to turn everything around for the better.

"Please.... awake!" she said softly, and to her and Sarina's infinite relief, Tobias actually opened her eyes and looked at her in amazement. "What is... where am I...?"

"You are here, with me. And everything is good!" said Fleur, reaching for the patient's hand. "And it's good that you're still quite weak at the moment. At least you can't run away when your mother explains a few things to you!"

Sarina and Tobias talked to each other for a long time, and Fleur swarmed other visitors who wanted to enter the tent. She told them to go to her injured friends and relatives who were being treated in other tents.

Tobias, meanwhile, had sat down in bed and listened to his mother's explanations. She really seemed to regret having left him once.

'I'm so sorry. I made a big mistake. And I made another mistake when I asked Norian to hold you tight for so long without giving you the reason. I don't know if you can forgive me for that...."

Tobias shook his head. 'I don't know either.... I have to think about some things...."

Then he smiled and looked directly at Sarina. "If it calms you down, I was at my parents... Nursing parents very good. They always treated me like their son and I was a brother to their biological children. And I want to see them again as soon as possible...."

'But please don't run away again. I don't know if we can ever say, "Everything is good." But we can't get out of the way..." asked Sarina and Tobias nodded in agreement.

'I'm not going to run away, don't worry.'

He smiled when he thought of something else and Sarina was happy that there was still something in her environment that could evoke that smile. "There's Fleur. And a brother I need to meet...."

Norian didn't take any guilt either, and he couldn't do anything for her parents' decisions. 


	62. A new beginning...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of this story. Strange to finish a story, somehow something is missing afterwards, even if you are glad to have brought it to the end.
> 
> At this point I would like to thank all the readers who have accompanied the story from beginning to end and above all, of course, those who have left me one or the other comment or Kudo and will perhaps also leave behind.
> 
> Once again I wish you a lot of fun reading..

Several months had passed since the victory over King Leopold and Norian had returned to his capital.

There had been a ceasefire agreement between him and Leopold's successor Ludwig and at the moment peace negotiations were underway, but this time on an equal footing and news was no longer delivered by hateful messengers, one of whom was now in prison with Ludwig.

This messenger, who had once tried successfully and unsuccessfully to humiliate Richard and Norian, had, as it turned out, used Leopold's silver and was now serving a longer prison sentence.

Norian and his mother had reconciled, even though the circumstances surrounding Tobias's birth were still gardening between them. 

But even this one was conciliatory after his temporary return to the capital, even if it was obvious that it would be a long time before he and his brother Norian would have a fraternal relationship with each other. 

A loving mother-and-son relationship would probably never come about between Tobias and Sarina, they were too stranger to this and Tobias had learned to say "mother" to another woman.

And to this he and Fleur left now, after they said goodbye to Joris and Marie, who had just married.

Fleur knew she would miss her sister very much, even if it wasn't a goodbye forever. But for her, too, there was still a part of her past that she had to conclude with.

Martin carried a large basket into the house, his wife had scared him to the market and asked him to get as much fruit and vegetables as possible.

All these things, since the peace had returned under King Norian, were to have returned to reasonable prices and in Martin's household alone the dealers made a good turnover.

His youngest daughter, Elena, accompanied him and suddenly the seven-year-old clapped her hands. "Look, someone is coming! Noble people!"

Martin turned around and looked at the young couple, who rode onhis his yard and then got off the back of the horses.

He swallowed heavily when he recognized the young woman. "Fleur... what are you doing here?" he asked, swallowing again when he noticed the short, bitter expression on his long-missing daughter's face.

'So this is your father Martin. The one who doesn't like magicians and would have almost delivered his own children to Richard's soldiers?" the young man inquired, putting an arm around Fleur, while Martin shrugged.

"Um... I...," he stammered, but Fleur turned to the young man.

"Yes, he is.... It was important to me to see him again. And I wanted to see my stepmother and half-sisters again... but as for him, this brief encounter was already enough!"

Fleur walked past Martin into the interior of the hut to greet her stepmother and sisters.

The sun went down when a house came into view in the distance. It was a little off the beaten track, but a satisfied smile spread to Tobias's face.

"You will get to know my family, Fleur! And they will love to have you.... just like me...."

Fleur grabbed Tobias's hand and breathed a kiss on his lips. 


End file.
